WASHINGTON — To compete with a more assertive China, the United States should invest in alliances and multilateral institutions, which President Trump and his administration have rejected or undermined, a report issued Tuesday by prominent scholars and former top White House, State Department and trade officials working on China concluded.

In addition, the Trump administration should take firm stands against China on its malign policies, from mercantilist measures to military expansionism, but should avoid overreacting to hard-line actions by President Xi Jinping and the Communist Party while searching for areas of cooperation with Beijing, the report said.

The United States and China “find their bilateral relationship at a dangerous crossroads,” said the report, issued by the Asia Society and the 21st Century China Center at the University of California, San Diego. “The United States and China are on a collision course. The foundations of good will that took decades to build are rapidly breaking down.”

The report was overseen by Orville Schell of the Asia Society and Susan L. Shirk, a professor at the University of California, San Diego, who worked on China policy as a deputy assistant secretary of state under President Bill Clinton. The two spent Monday in Washington briefing policymakers at the White House and State Department on what they call “smart competition.”