The blue robot cat has returned. Doraemon, one of the most successful Japanese animation characters, has been enchanting Chinese movie-goers with its 3D appearance in the latest film called Stand by Me Doraemon.The movie, although only on release since Thursday, has toppled quite a few box office records in the Chinese mainland. Considering its popularity, it is likely to break another record to become the most popular animated feature shown in the mainland.

Thanks to the thaw in Sino-Japanese political tensions, the movie  debuted in China days before Children's Day, so it certainly would draw upon kids as major audience. However, a lot of 20- or 30-somethings also bought tickets, even though they don't have children, simply because they want to be "reminded of childhood memories," according to many social media users' unanimous comments on the movie.

Doraemon, a favorite of the Chinese in the surge of imported Japanese animations from the 1980s and 90s, has made an impression on a huge number of Chinese young people. In 2008, Doraemon was appointed by then Japanese prime minister Masahiko Komura an "anime ambassador" to publicize Japanese manga culture. It seems that the chubby cat with a ringing bell on his neck has done a good job. Not only has it managed to export popular Japanese culture to the rest of the world, but it has deeply influenced more than one generation in its biggest neighbor, and the influence is ongoing.

The popularity of Doraemon indicates Japan's robust soft power in cultural communication. In sharp contrast, China's indigenous cultural products are much less influential. Complaints have been filed against the shoddy scripts and poor animation skills. The market and audiences don't lie, and they treat cultural products on an equal footing. Although the Chinese cultural industry, especially movie and TV production, has dramatically advanced and brought in huge profits in recent years, we cannot deny that without originality and real care about humanity, few domestic cultural products deserve to be called "high-quality" or "exquisite."

Pursuing quick money is ruining the ingenuity and creativity of Chinese culture. Cultural communication and integration is valuable to the expansion of a culture. Viable cultural elements do not only exist in particular cultural products such as movies and TV dramas; their ability to penetrate into and even reshape the mind of outside audiences is powerful.

China does not lack viable cultural elements, but it requires patience and efforts to unravel them. If not, it would be a tremendous pity when generations of the Chinese do not have many Chinese impressions in their "childhood memories."