BackgroundEarly studies have shown a relationship between activities of daily living (ADL) disability and depressive symptoms in older people. However, discussions on the direction of this relationship are insufficient. The study’s objective was to assess the reciprocal relationship between ADL disability and depressive symptoms among middle-aged and older Chinese people.MethodData was collected in four waves of a nationwide survey, the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), which was carried out in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2018. In total, this study included 4,124 participants aged ≥ 45 years at baseline. A summing score of the eleven items for basic activities of daily living (BADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) was calculated to indicate the degree of ADL disability. The 10-item Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CESD-10) was adopted to measure depressive symptoms. The reciprocal relationship between ADL disability and depressive symptoms was tested by cross-lagged models.ResultAt baseline, 911 (22.1%) participants were classified as having difficulties with ADL, and the prevalence of depressive symptoms was 34.4% (1,418). Among middle-aged and older people in China, there was a significant reciprocal and longitudinal relationship between ADL disability and depressive symptoms. People who had difficulty with ADL faced a higher risk of depressive symptoms, and those who suffered from depressive symptoms were accompanied by an increase in ADL disability in the following years. The subgroup analysis on age also showed that ADL disability was reciprocally and longitudinally related to depressive symptoms. However, only women showed similar results in the subgroup analysis on gender.ConclusionThis study shows that ADL disability is bi-directionally related to depressive symptoms in middle-aged and older Chinese people over time. The results suggest we should identify ADL disability and bad psychological conditions in time to prevent subsequent mutual damage among middle-aged and older Chinese people, a vulnerable group rising in the future.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-023-16100-0.