Beijing's growing power is a national security issue that will determine our future, said head of the British Cyber Intelligence Agency (GCHQ) Jeremy Fleming.

He accused China of trying to rewrite the rules of international security, saying Beijing was using its economic and technological clout to suppress at home and establish control abroad.

According to him, Beijing's authorities want to gain a strategic advantage by shaping the world's technological ecosystem.

When it comes to technology, the Chinese state's politically motivated actions are becoming a growing problem that we must recognize and address, Fleming said.

He added that this changes the definition of national security to a much broader concept. Technology has become not only an area of opportunity, competition and cooperation, but also a battleground for control, values and influence.

Relations between Britain and China have become increasingly chilly in recent years, as British officials accuse Beijing of economic tricks and human rights violations. British intelligence agencies are giving increasingly negative assessments of Beijing's influence and intentions. Last year, MI6 head Richard Moore called China one of the biggest threats to Britain and its allies, the AP reported.

Fleming warned that China is seeking to fragment the infrastructure of the Internet in order to increase its control. He also argued that China seeks to use digital currencies used by central banks to track users' transactions and as a way to avoid future international sanctions, such as those imposed against Russia.

Fleming argued that China's BeiDou satellite system, an alternative to the widely used GPS navigation technology, could contain a powerful anti-satellite capability with a doctrine of denying other countries access to space in case of conflict.

He said the world's democracies cannot afford to fall behind in advanced fields such as quantum computing, and warned of potential weaknesses in semiconductors, critical microcircuits used in everyday electronics.