Oil and copper prices are weakening despite China's reopening. It's a sign a global recession is coming but liquidity issues may also be at play, economists warn.

• Oil and copper prices have remained weak of late despite China's reopening from COVID-19 restrictions. 
• It's a signal that a global recession is on the horizon, according to one economist. 
• But liquidity issues triggered by rising interest rates may also be weighing on commodities, another economist told Insider. 

Oil and copper prices are staying weak even as China's economy rebounds from a coronavirus-fueled slowdown, and that suggests a global recession is underway, according to economists.

Since mid-January, the two commodities have dropped about 6% and 5%, respectively. That's in spite of China, the world's largest buyer of crude and the red metal, making a full U-turn on its strict zero-COVID restrictions.