Abstract: Currently China has entered the ranks of middle-income countries, and is faced with the challenges of overcoming the so called“Middle-Income Trap”. Chinese economic growth is now continuing its transformation from relying on investment-driven economic expansion and low cost labor supply into relying on the accumulation and innovation of technical skills and the improvement of workers’ value-creating ability. China desiderates to change the traditional economic growth mode, while the investment on human capital can play an important role in it. From the analysis of the typical countries and regions, it is found that there is a close correlation between the human capital level measured by high-education ratio and the success of overcoming the “Middle-Income Trap”, as well as the time length. Thus in the future, China should strengthen its human capital investment, improve the level of national education, so as to accelerate the cross-stage economic development.

Key words: economic growth style transition; middle-income trap; human capital investment; higher education