U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats warned on Tuesday that China is spending “an extraordinary amount of money” to increase its international standing, worrying its neighbors and threatening U.S. influence, Reuters reported.

“A report was recently released, an unclassified version, that China will spend about $8 billion in 68 different nations establishing its geostrategic positioning, not only for economic purposes and trade purposes, but also for use of military facilities,” Coats told a U.S. Senate hearing on “Worldwide Threats.”