China will have difficulty upgrading its economy because the quality of its labor force falls short when compared to many developed countries, a top think tank warned on Thursday.

Only about 7 percent of China's working-age population went to college in 2012, according to the Annual Report on the Development of China's Human Resources released by the Social Sciences Academic Press in Beijing. That pales in comparison to the United States, where 60 percent of its work force received higher education; Japan, where 40 percent went to college; and the United Kingdom, where 32 percent are graduates.

The report said less than 13 percent of employees in China have a university degree and that the nation is facing a shortage of 22 million to 33 million skilled workers.