ABSTRACT
The general rise in the value of tropical produce during the early years of the twentieth century stimulated even some of the old staples like coffee and sugar; tobacco and local products like copra and hides were flourishing. On the other hand the sudden prohibition by the provincial authorities in Chekiang of the import of Indian opium brought to an end in 1912 a lucrative trade which had exerted so powerful an influence over Asian finance
and commerce and indeed diplomacy for nearly a century.
