Educated workforce out of thin air ...
The US has a real problem because some wealthy elements of society figured out how to game the political system to protect their privileges. The result is an education system that favors the rich over the smart and motivated, a tax system that collects from the working classes and allows the rich to evade taxes.
The good news it that the US is a democracy and the system can (hopefully) be fixed without massive turmoil once the problems become too big to ignore. The New Deal showed how the democratic system can work. China, OTOH, has no proven system to resolve societal conflict. They depend on a ruling class that may or may not follow enlightened ideals. The cultural revolution showed how that system can go astray.
Let's just hope that the US democracy survives the next showdown between the moneyed and the rest. Make no mistake, the Trump phenomenon is a symptom of a dysfunctional society, where the disconnect between the wealthy and the rest got out of control. In Trump, the wealthy found their piper to lead the discontented into the wilderness. But a decade or two in the future, Trump will be gone and the problems will have to be addressed. Let's hope they manage without bloody turmoil.
Equally, we may hope that the Communist party in China finds a way to improve governance and strengthen democratic elements within and outside their party. Unfortunately, their current leader seems to be more of a Führer than an enlightened party leader, so we may have to be patient to see any positives out of China.