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Interesting, how different the monetary base over time looks like in China compared to the US and Europe when you click on "max" on these charts:

https://tradingeconomics.com/china/money-supply-m0

USA:

https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/money-supply-m0

Europe:

https://tradingeconomics.com/euro-area/money-supply-m0

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What is the purpose of the annual spikes?

I suspect it's related to Chinese New Year, as the peaks in the graph change from January to February depending on which month Chinese New Year falls into.

Edit: ah, M0 is cash. It is traditional to give cash in red envelopes at Chinese New Year, which could be related. I'm surprised the spikes are so large though.

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