WASHINGTON — China’s effort to expand its growing  influence represents one of the largest threats to the  United States, according to a major annual intelligence report released on Tuesday, which also warned of the  broad national security challenges posed by Moscow and  Beijing.

The report does not predict a military confrontation with  either Russia or China, but it suggests that so-called gray zone battles for power, which are meant to fall short of  inciting all-out war, will intensify with intelligence  operations, cyberattacks and global drives for influence. The assessment highlights the opportunities and  challenges for the Biden administration. Iran, for  instance, has not advanced its work on a nuclear weapon,  potentially giving President Biden some room to  maneuver. But it paints a grim prognosis for a peace deal  in Afghanistan, a day before Mr. Biden is set to announce  that he will withdraw American forces by September.  Critics could use the report to suggest that the president is  ignoring intelligence agencies’ predictions as he pushes  forward with the drawdown. While much of the report describes traditional national  security challenges, it also gives far more attention to  climate change and global health than previous threat  assessments have done. That shift reflects a pledge by the  Biden administration’s top intelligence officials to focus  more on such nontraditional challenges. The report puts China’s push for “global power” first on  the list of threats, followed by Russia, Iran and North  Korea.