World experts voiced concern over the global challenge of aging populations and decreasing birth rates at a forum in Shanghai on Sunday.
American expert Teresa Sullivan, President with University of Virginia, spoke about the deteriorating social security deficit in the US, caused by a declining birth rate, which is also occurring in China.
As a result of family planning, primary school enrollments in China have declined by one third from 1995 to 2008.
In the next decade, experts predict the decline may lead to a 30 percent reduction of the workforce aged between 20 and 24.
Statistics show that China's labor force has seen a four-year consecutive decline, down from 937 million in 2012 to 911 million in 2015, causing people to question whether China's labor-driven growth will continue.
Founder Securities noted that China's annual shortage of migrant workers suggest its labor resource have already been depleted.
But, there are also experts expecting a transformation.
During an interview with China Business Journal, Yan Se, a Chinese expert with Standard Charted Bank, said China's growing bachelor-degree holders will likely lead to a new growth model built on a high-quality workforce, which will replace the existing model.
"This (high-quality workforce) will speed up China's industrial upgrading towards technology-intensive production, which will support growth in next decade", said Yan.
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