Mickey Mouse has been seen in a Mao suit in Hong Kong. He has also been spotted tucking into rice cakes. Now the Mayor of Shanghai has invited the world's most famous cartoon character to a planned Disneyland in the glitzy metropolis.

Han Zheng put an end to six years of speculation by revealing that the city had at last applied to the central government in Beijing to build its own Disneyland. It would be the second such park in China - the magic kingdom opened its doors in Hong Kong in 2005.

The mayor said that an application had been submitted to the economic planning agency but official approval had not yet been received. “Any big-scale project of this kind has to receive central government approval and Shanghai will, of course, abide by the central government's decision,” he said.

Rumours have swirled about potential locations in Shanghai since 2002 when the Walt Disney Company signed a statement of intent to create a Disneyland on the Chinese mainland. It subsequently set up a venture with the city's Lujiazui Group to develop a site that would be about 4.7 times the size of Hong Kong's Disneyland. However, the project fell foul of politics.

All such ambitious plans for Shanghai were put on hold after the city's boss, Communist Party secretary Chen Liangyu, was implicated in a corruption scandal in 2006.

More recently, Hong Kong has voiced concerns that a second Disneyland would hurt its park, which attracted only four million visitors in its second year, a fall of more than 20 per cent.

Hong Kong's Disneyland has added local touches. Mickey has appeared in a red Mao suit styled by Vivienne Tam, the New York-based designer, and visitors can snack on deep-fried dumplings and turnip cake.

Disney is counting on a new generation of young Chinese, who have taken Mickey and Minnie to their hearts. Banned for 40 years after Chairman Mao swept the Communist Party to power in China, the cartoons only appeared on the mainland in 1986.

Most young Chinese have grown up watching Dragon Club, a television show on the air for nearly 15 years, which features Disney animation, and cuddling genuine Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck soft toys.

A Disneyland opened in Tokyo in 1983 but falling numbers has forced it to target older visitors, rather than children, by offering a cut-price season ticket for over-60s. Disneyland Paris, 30 kilometres east of the French capital, has also suffered a fall in patronage.

Disney's theme parks and resorts generated $2.77 billion (£1.37 billion) in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2007, an 11 per cent increase on the same period the previous year.

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