China continues building up its military to transform from regional power to "world-class," investing heavily in modernization and expanding its global influence, according to a new Pentagon report that was released on Thursday.

According to the report, China is using multiple tools to gain access to those technologies including "targeted foreign direct investment, cyber theft, and exploitation of private Chinese nationals" access to these technologies, as well as harnessing its intelligence services, computer intrusions, and other illicit approaches."

In 2018, China used dynamic random access memory, aviation technologies and anti-submarine warfare technologies to acquire this type of sensitive, dual-use or military-grade equipment from the United States, the report said.

It is the intersection of American technology and the Chinese military that concerns top Pentagon officials and recently grabbed the attention of President Donald Trump.

Following protests by some employees, Google ended its cooperation with the Defense Department on select projects, including drone targeting technology. The decision led America’s top military officer to call out companies, including Google, that do business with China.

The report highlights how China is rushing towards that goal by using covert techniques to steal foreign military technologies and "leapfrogging" the development phases of complex weapons systems. China uses various means to get these technologies including the use of influence operations against individuals, businesses, media organizations, academic institutions and other communities.

(MORE: Trump administration compares Chinese prisons for Muslim minorities to 1930s detention camps)

As in previous years, the congressionally mandated report assesses China's military and security developments and how those fit in with the nation's long-term growth strategies in the Pacific region. That includes continuing to project its military power in the South China Sea – where in 2018 China placed anti-ship cruise missiles and long-range surface-to-air missiles on the contested Spratly Islands – as well as China’s focus on Taiwan, which the Chinese government considers to be a breakaway province.

But it is China's illicit acquisition of foreign military and dual-use technologies that the report describes as having the potential "to degrade core U.S. operational and technological advantages" in the region

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https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/china-stealing-foreign-military-technology-race-world-power/story?id=62785573