There was an air of expectation that the new regime would make the terms of the China trade favourable for the Chinese merchants in Singapore and promote the production, manufacturing, transport and export of Chinese products in China. There was optimism that “China will share in the wealth of the world, and will be at once a large producer and a large consumer”.29 There were favourable reports of a “possible trade boom” in Shanghai and record figures for China’s trade in 1918.30 Silk exports from China “might be easily doubled”.