China hit back on Thursday at a US report that warned of China's growing military capabilities in the western Pacific and a threat to US dominance, saying that China's military policy was defensive and to solely protect the country.

"China sticks to the road of peaceful development and adheres to a non-aggressive strategy for national defense that is within the appropriate range to protect its sovereignty, national security and territorial integrity," China's foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a regular press briefing on Thursday.

The annual report submitted to the US Congress by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission said on Wednesday that China's military spending is rising and the modernization of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) "is altering the security balance in the Asia-Pacific, challenging decades of US military preeminence in the region."

The report said that China is "rapidly expanding and diversifying its ability to strike US bases, ships and aircraft" throughout the Asia-Pacific region, including areas it could not previously reach, such as the US Pacific territory of Guam.

It quoted the Office of Naval Intelligence and said China will probably have 313 to 342 submarines by 2020, including around 60 that can fire intercontinental ballistic missiles or cruise missiles against ships.

The US report also accused Beijing of "directing and executing a large-scale cyber espionage campaign" on the US government and private industry.

"This particular agency has, for years, published biased reports, stuffed with the ideology of the Cold War. Their perspective is not worthy of a rebuttal," Hong said.

US President Barack Obama pledged in his first term the foreign policy of playing pivot to the Asia-Pacific region.

However, "the report presents a different attitude from the government as American officials often try to eliminate China's suspicion by saying that its pivot policy is not targeted at China but a vibrant and complex Asia," Liu Weidong, a US expert with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

"The commission has always trumpeted the rising threat from China to keep the US vigilant. This time it may intend to make the Obama administration more cautious in cutting the military budget," Liu said.

The report calls on Congress to fund ship building to "increase its presence in the Asia Pacific to at least 60 ships and rebalance home ports to 60 percent in the region by 2020" so as to "offset China's growing military capabilities."

The report reflects a strong mentality against China and an absence of trust within the US, which is nothing strange given the commission's members are mostly conservatives, Xin Qiang, a professor with the Center for American Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times.

"However, the report is not likely to exert substantive influence on the China policy of the Obama administration," Xin said.

While the report shows US concern with the threat from China, the US Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs on Wednesday passed legislation authorizing arms sales to Taiwan, including four Perry-class frigates.

China expressed "strong dissatisfaction" with the passage of the legislation to sell arms to Taiwan. 

Agencies contributed to this story