It's not just trade frictions China and the US are seeing. President Donald Trump is set to sign a more than 700-billion-dollar defense bill on Monday. The spending plan for 2019 gives big increases to the US military, which is now focusing more on what the White House calls "great power competition" - aiming specifically at China and Russia. CGTN's Nathan King reports on US measures aimed at China.

At the Rim of the Pacific exercises this year - the largest multilateral naval exercises in the world - Chinese ships were conspicuously absent. After two successful previous appearances, China was disinvited by the US over its activities in the South China Sea.

And, under the 2019 Defense Authorization Act, China would be officially banned from those exercises. There are other measures, too. Plans for strengthening the US-Taiwan military relationship will be drawn up. An annual report on China's so-called malign activities in the South China Sea. A ban on the use by the US military of equipment made by Chinese firms Huawei and ZTE.

An overhaul of investment rules on national security grounds. And cutting the budget for Chinese learning at US universities that host China's state-backed Confucius Institutes.

TIMOTHY HEATH SR. INT'L DEFENSE RESEARCHER, RAND CORPORATION "So, this is broad-based, the suspicion of China and this sense of a threat from China. And, to me that's a remarkable thing about this bill."

The US focus on China as a "strategic competitor" comes as the US armed forces are downgrading the fight against terrorism and focusing more on Asia-Pacific.

The US defense secretary recently visited his counterpart in China and stressed the need for cooperation, but not before criticizing Chinese actions at a key regional security conference.

The US defense act also provides more money to forge closer defense relationships with other nations like India and Sri Lanka. This year saw the first visit of a US aircraft carrier to Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam war.

All over the Indo-Pacific - as the US now labels the region - the US is increasing it's already overwhelming naval and air superiority.

TIMOTHY HEATH SR. INT'L DEFENSE RESEARCHER, RAND CORPORATION "It's not simply authorizing more planes and ships to be built, which it does, but it also directs reporting requirements on issues on influence operations and espionage."

China is not alone. Russia, too, is targeted in this spending bill-with plans for a permanent US presence in neighboring Poland. And NATO ally, Turkey, will be denied access to the new F-35 fighter jet at least for now.

NATHAN KING PENTAGON As part of the Pentagon's focus on China, this defense act also adds another aircraft carrier to the US fleet. In total 46 new ships are planned for the US Navy over the next five years. And, here in the US, there is little opposition for this 700-billion dollar budget-the largest in the Pentagon's history. This year's defense spending request made its way through Congress far quicker than usual. Nathan King, CGTN at the Pentagon.