U.S. Senator Dick Durbin is working on a wide-ranging trade strategy for Africa that aims to counter China’s rising economic influence on the continent.

The legislation by Durbin, the Senate’s second ranking Democrat, would work to increase American exports to Africa by at least 200 percent in the next 10 years.

Durbin appeared with other senators on Tuesday at a Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs, which examined how China’s expanding role in Africa is putting American interests at risk.

Democratic Senator Chris Coons, who chairs the subcommittee, said trade between China and African nations grew by more than 1000 percent between 2000 and 2010, outpacing U.S. trade by 100 percent.

Coons also said China’s willingness to provide economic investments with no strings attached to countries with poor civil rights records is jeopardizing the U.S. goals of promoting free and open societies on the continent.

Several other senators and analysts told the subcommittee that American influence in Africa is being marginalized by China’s increased role in the region.

Coons said that while the United States may be “winning the war on disease” in Africa, it risks “losing the hearts of minds of the African people” if it does not provide investments that are more visible.

He estimates that 70 percent of Chinese assistance to Africa has gone to fund higher-profile infrastructure projects, such as roads, stadiums and government buildings, while U.S. assistance has funded healthcare projects to fight HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases.