After the outbreak of the First World War, the commodities exported by imperialist countries to China plummeted, while the demand for China's raw materials and some commodities increased, which made the China market, which had become very narrow under the control of imperialism, slightly appear some gaps, which objectively provided opportunities for the development of national capital. For example, China's cotton yarn market has been monopolized by Britain, Japan and the United States, among which Britain has always occupied a dominant position. During the wartime and post-war world capitalist crisis, the output of cotton yarn and cotton cloth in Britain decreased greatly, and the output to China naturally decreased. Japanese cotton yarn could have taken the opportunity to replace Britain's monopoly position in China, but on the one hand, China market basically belongs to roving market, while Japan mainly produces spun yarn in wartime, which is not suitable for China; On the other hand, at that time, the domestic weaving industry in Japan developed rapidly and needed a lot of cotton yarn. As a result, Japanese cotton yarn exports to China have also decreased. According to statistics, the number of cotton yarns imported from China ranges from 1909 to 1 91,respectively 1320 197,19 to/. The supply of foreign yarn in the market has decreased, but the demand is still very large, which makes the price of cotton yarn rise and the profit increase: 19 16 can earn 7.6 1 yuan, and the profit of 19 17 will rise to 36.93 yuan. Stimulated by high profits, commercial capital turned to cotton mills for investment. Before the war, the investors in cotton mills were mainly bureaucrats, comprador and landlords. However, in the "golden age", most investors who set up new cotton mills were businessmen, especially cotton cloth, cotton yarn and cotton merchants. Shanghai Zhentai Yarn Factory, founded in 192 1, is mainly owned by wealthy firms in foreign fabric industry. Chongxin yarn factory is sponsored by Chongde yarn number; Yongyu cotton mill is sponsored by a cotton merchant. Businessmen transfer capital from circulation to production, not only out of political patriotism, but also in pursuit of high economic profits. The change of investment purpose shows that the law of value is already playing a leading role, which is an important symbol of the "golden age".

Another example is the development of flour industry. After the outbreak of World War II, countries were busy with war, agricultural production was reduced, civil industries were tightened, and the demand for military food increased greatly, so flour could not be transported to China as before the war. In this way, there is an urgent demand for domestic flour in the domestic market. What's more, during the war, countries also took turns to buy flour from China. First, Russia, then Britain, France, the Philippines, Southeast Asia and even Japan became the targets of China's flour export. The expansion of domestic and international markets has prompted the rapid increase of flour mills. Subsequently, the flour industry appeared merger phenomenon. For example, Rong He Rong Desheng's flour mill with abundant capital did not buy or lease other small factories before 19 14. After 19 14, the proportion of other small factories in Rong flour industry gradually increased, reaching 196544. This trend of capital concentration is also an important symbol of the "golden age" of businessmen.

In the "golden age", some light industries, such as silk weaving, wool spinning and matches, all developed to varying degrees; Some light and small industries that did not exist or were weak before the war were produced because of the reduction of foreign imports, such as the knitting industry monopolized by German goods in the past. After the war, German goods imports dropped sharply, and a knitting factory was built in China for the second time. Only the sock factory opened 19 16 to 1922. In addition, China's national enamel industry, glass industry and rubber industry were also established at this time. The light industry category of national capital is gradually complete, which should be said to be a symbol of the "golden age".