BEIJING - China still enjoys huge development potential and?will maintain the eight-percent growth rate for at least another 20 years, Justin Yifu Lin, former chief economist of the World Bank, said Monday.

Lin made the remarks at a seminar at Peking University, his first public appearance in the country after he finished a four-year tenure as World Bank chief economist and senior vice president.

Lin said that developing countries should promote the growth of industries where they have comparative advantages, while governments will play a key role in selecting and developing those industries.

"At each given stage of development, the market is the fundamental mechanism for effective resource allocation, but the state needs to play a proactive, facilitating role in the move from a lower stage to a higher stage," Lin said.

The 60-year-old Chinese economist will return to teaching at Peking University and is expected to give a class in the new semester starting in September, according to the university.

Lin took up his World Bank position on June 2, 2008, after serving for 15 years as professor and founding director of the China Center for Economic Research at Peking University.