[3] In 1898, the company acquired the Japanese printshop Xiuwen yinshuaju and relocated to larger premises, this time a twelve-room building along Shunqing Lane in Beijing Road.

Xia was credited with being the "brains" of the group who secured funding while the Baos did the actual printing; Gao continued working for the American Presbyterian Mission Press.

Following a series of botched translation projects, Xia was faced with a cash flow problem; he was advised by his writer friend Bao Tianxiao to establish a proper editorial office and invite new partners to better manage the business.

[7] However, in 1902, the company's textbook projects came to a standstill after Cai Yuanpei fled to Qingdao to avoid prosecution for sedition; Zhang took over as supervising editor a year later and enacted sweeping changes that allowed the firm to fend off competitors like Kkinkodo, Wenming, and Nanyang.

The textbook collection envisaged by Cai finally came to fruition in 1904 after a series of major overhauls and a record-breaking few hundred thousand copies were sold in a few months, thus establishing the Commercial Press as the unrivalled leader in the Chinese publication industry.

[10] On 10 January 1914, at approximately 17:00 local time, Xia was stabbed to death in front of the company's Henan Road location, at age 43.

[11] Yet it was also speculated that Xia's competitors may have sanctioned his assassination, as just four days before he had attempted to acquire rival firm Kinkodo which had invested in the Commercial Press.