This chart shows one of the biggest monetary power shifts of the last 25 years.
Back in 2000, China’s broad money supply was tiny compared with the combined money machines of the United States and Europe. China was sitting at just 1.7 trillion dollars, while the U.S. and EU together were already near 10 trillion. In simple terms, the West had the giant liquidity engine, and China was still warming up the motor.
But then the engine started roaring.
From 2000 to 2025, China’s broad money supply exploded to 47.1 trillion dollars, overtaking the U.S. and EU combined at 44.5 trillion. That is not just a chart line going up. That is a monetary earthquake. It tells us China spent decades expanding credit, building infrastructure, financing industry, supporting property, and pushing liquidity through its economy at a scale the world has never seen before.
For commodity markets, this matters a lot.
When China expands money and credit, it usually creates demand for real things. Copper, iron ore, oil, silver, aluminum, coal, cement, machinery, construction materials. Money supply does not automatically equal commodity demand every single year, but over the long cycle, more liquidity often means more investment, more industrial activity, and more appetite for hard assets.
The big story here is simple. The world’s liquidity center is no longer only in Washington and Europe. China has become a monetary heavyweight. If Chinese liquidity stabilizes or accelerates again, commodities could get a powerful tailwind. But if that money stays trapped in weak property, bad debt, or cautious consumers, the commodity boom may come slower and choppier.
Still, this chart screams one message. Watch China’s money supply, because commodities listen.
