WASHINGTON -- US-China relations are marked by a deep, continuing interdependence despite hardening competition, a local think tank has said.

"Even on economic issues, where rhetoric and actions around decoupling command the most attention, trade and investment data continue to point stubbornly in the direction of deep interdependence," Ryan Hass with the Brookings Institution wrote in a report published on Thursday.

The ties will remain significant even as both sides "continue to take steps to limit vulnerabilities from the other," Hass said.

The trend, described by the researcher as part of a "new normal" of U.S.-China ties, will impact how competition between them unfolds in the coming years, he said.