Innovation, education can help China get rich before getting old: newspaper editorial

Graduates take selfies during the 2019 commencement ceremony of Tsinghua University held in Beijing, capital of China, July 7, 2019. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)

BEIJING, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Innovation and education can help China get rich before it gets old, reads an editorial run Wednesday by China Daily on the findings of a once-in-a-decade national census.

China's population on the mainland had increased to 1.41 billion by 2020, up 5.38 percent from 10 years ago. Over the past 10 years, the population has increased at an average annual rate of 0.53 percent, data from the census shows.

Noting that the data indicates that the country's population is aging and the working age population is declining, the editorial also highlighted the increase in the number of urban residents and college graduates.

Figures show that 63.89 percent of the population lived in urban areas at the end of last year, up 14.21 percentage points from 10 years ago, and that the number of people per 100,000 receiving college education and above increased from 8,930 in 2010 to 15,467 last year.

The findings reflect China's efforts to improve the quality of its workforce and raise overall productivity, reads the article.

"That said, policymakers should attach more significance to measures to foster a skilled workforce and boost childbirth, and promote innovation and industries related to the elderly as new growth drivers and job creators," it adds.

Comparing the country's pro-innovation and pro-birth endeavors to a race with the aging of its population, the newspaper says these policies need to be better targeted and more effective so that they can reflect the urgency and nature of the challenge they are intended to overcome.