Financial Times reports that China's banking system has surpassed that of the eurozone to become the world's largest by assets, a sign both of the country's increased influence in world finance and its reliance on debt to drive growth since the global financial crisis. While China's gross domestic product surpassed the EU's economic bloc in 2011 at market exchange rates, its banking system did not take over the top spot until the end of 2016, Financial Times analysis shows.  The lag reflects Beijing's increased "financial deepening" — the term for the growth of a country's financial system relative to gross domestic product. This has been fuelled by an extraordinary increase in bank lending since 2008, when the government unleashed aggressive monetary and fiscal stimulus to buffer the impact of the global crisis...Chinese bank assets hit $33tn at the end of 2016, versus $31tn for the eurozone, $16tn for the US and $7tn for Japan. The value of China's banking system is more than 3.1 times the size of the country's annual economic output, compared with 2.8 times for the eurozone and its banks.

USA Today reports that China is targeting growth of 6.5% in 2017 -- down slightly from last year's actual 6.7% rate -- a 25-year low for the industrial powerhouse. Despite the decline, that growth would keep China's economy as one of the world's strongest -- the second-largest behind the U.S. "An important reason for stressing the need to maintain steady growth is to ensure employment and improve people's lives," said Premier Li Keqiang, the nation's top economic official, Sunday at the opening of the annual National People's Congress in Beijing.The last time China's target for gross national product growth dipped was to 6% in 1992. The country will "pursue better results in actual economic work," he said.

Bloomberg says South Korea said it would ensure Korean companies don't face unfair trade measures in China, pushing back against pressure from Beijing over its decision to deploy a U.S. missile shield on its soil. The China National Tourism Administration verbally ordered local travel agencies to stop selling tour packages to South Korea starting March 15, the state-run Korea Tourism Organization said Friday. The Korea Economic Daily said Sunday, citing unidentified officials, that Chinese authorities suspended businesses of four Lotte Mart stores for a month for allegedly violating fire safety norms. South Korea's government is "deeply concerned about the measures taken in China and will closely monitor the situation and strengthen responses," Trade Minister Joo Hyung-hwan said Sunday. "Responses will be taken via international law should China violate WTO or Korea-China free trade agreement rules."...The tensions (out of THAAD) are impacting financial markets. South Korea suffered a selloff Friday in hotels, cosmetic makers and other tourism-related companies that made the country's benchmark the worst performer among Asian equity markets. It echoes moves by China to punish Japanese companies in 2012 amid a dispute over islands in the East China Sea.