China tops a U.S. list of international threats in an assessment by the U.S. intelligence community.

It said "China increasingly is a near-peer competitor, challenging the U.S. in many areas" and is focused on economic, military and technological advancement.

The authors expected to see China continuing its use of "coordinated, whole-of-government tools to demonstrate its growing strength" and could eventually convince its neighbors to give in to its demands.

Among the countries mentioned in the report that will continue to be "intimidated" by China are India, Southeast Asian nations and Taiwan.

While China and India have been disputing border territory over the past years, the world's second-largest economy has been in contest with the Philippines over areas in the South China Sea.

Aside from the Belt and Road Initiative being mentioned in the report as a project China is expected to continue promoting, the authors said the country would remain the "top threat to U.S. technological competitiveness."

U.S. President Joe Biden has encouraged the technology community to focus on developing domestic chips within the country and not rely on Chinese assembly plants. Biden announced a $50 billion fund for the development of the American chip industry.

Industry experts said the new semiconductor initiative would not have an immediate effect on China's technology industry as the country already had a plan of its own in driving growth in the sector.

Furthermore, experts said it will take years before chip production is shifted completely from Asia, particularly China, to the U.S.

Meanwhile, China isn't the only reported threat in the assessment. Russia, Iran and North Korea are also on the list.

The report said that Russia "is pushing back against Washington" and is expected to use different strategies to "undermine U.S. influence."

The assessment noted five critical tools the authors expect Russia to use: influence campaigns and other related programs, counterterrorism and intelligence, military aid, mercenary activities, "assassinations," and weapons sales.

Iran, on the other hand, is expected to use "diplomacy" and military acquisitions against the U.S., while North Korea is projected to be aggressive in its goal of reshaping the "regional security environment."

Other threats believed to affect the U.S. include COVID-19, climate change, cyber-attacks, ISIS, al-Qaida and Hezbollah.