North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies branded China a security risk to the alliance for the first time - designating the country as presenting "systemic challenges" in a final summit statement.
U.S. President Joe Biden has encouraged NATO leaders to stand up to China's authoritarianism and expanding military strength, signaling a shift in focus for an alliance formed during the Cold War to defend Europe from the Soviet Union.
The language in the summit's final communique, which will now provide the groundwork for alliance policy, was released a day after the Group of Seven affluent nations published a statement on human rights in China and Taiwan that Beijing said tarnished its reputation.
"China's stated ambitions and assertive behavior present systemic challenges to the rules-based international order and to areas relevant to alliance security," NATO leaders said in a communique after their summit.
Biden also assured European allies that the alliance's mutual defense pact was a "sacred obligation" for the U.S., a sharp contrast to his predecessor Donald Trump, who had threatened to withdraw from the alliance and accused Europeans of contributing too little to their own defense.
"I want all of Europe to know that the United States is there," Biden said. "NATO is critically important to us."
According to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, China's expanding military presence from the Baltics to Africa requires nuclear-armed NATO to be ready.
Stoltenberg also said that the leaders decided to boost their contributions to the alliance's small common budget. The vast majority of NATO's military spending is handled separately by member countries.
Over the weekend, G-7 nations gathering in Britain rebuked China for human rights violations in its Xinjiang region, urged Hong Kong to maintain a certain level of autonomy, and requested a thorough inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus in China.
China is one of the world's leading military and economic powers, with the governing Communist Party controlling politics, daily life and most of society.
The Chinese military now boasts the world's largest armed forces, with more than 2 million people on active duty.
