The people behind the funny faces

These emojis created by an art student were downloaded by 4 million users in one day. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Independent operators

However, in China most cartoonists run their images independently. Zhong Wei, 32, a full-time cartoonist in Shenyang, Liaoning province, draws cartoon images and since 2014 has published two picture books.

He created a human-like white cat that behaves in a mean but comic way and after turning it into an emoji, it has received wide recognition. Before the cat was created, he drew cartoon images of a human-like bear, a man with a chicken head and a little boy for a children's book.

"Chinese Internet users draw on emoticons mainly to express emotions that they can't express unaided," Zhong says.

To express crying there is a while cat that can laugh even as it sheds tears, cries as it lies in a pool of tears, cries while clapping its hands and cries as it covers its face with its paws.