The agriculture was the major economy of the Yuan Dynasty. Although the Mongolian people were a nomadic people who originally lived on the grassland for generations, Kublai Khan focused much attention on the agricultural production after the founding of Yuan Dynasty. The following emperors also advocated replacing the traditional animal husbandry with agriculture. As a result, no matter in the production technique, the farming area or the food output, the Yuan Dynasty surpassed the previous dynasties.

The most prosperous handicraft industry in the Yuan Dynast was the textile industry. As the cotton planting became more and more popular in the southern areas of China, the development of the textile industry was greatly stimulated and reached a fairly advanced level. A woman named Huang Daopo from Songjiang area (currently in Shanghai urban area) improved and invented the new cotton textile technology, which made Shanghai and the near regions become the earliest national cotton textile industry center.

Both the surplus goods and the convenient water transport was the prerequisite of the commercial development of the Yuan Dynasty. In the early period of Yuan, a 51-mile long grand canal, named Tonghui River by Kublai Khan, was constructed in the capital city Dadu (currently Beijing). This provided much convenience for the food transport from southern areas to the capital. Additionally, the large circulation of paper currency further prospered the domestic business affairs.