BOAO, Hainan, April 9 -- Former chief economist of the World Bank Justin Yifu Lin on Wednesday reiterated his confidence in China's economy, saying the country will be able to meet its 7.5-percent growth target despite short-term worries.

A long-time optimist on China's growth, Lin said there is still huge potential in China's industrial transformation and infrastructure construction to yield high returns.

China's low debt rate of around 40 percent allows room for proactive fiscal policies, and massive private savings and foreign reserves are all favorable conditions to deliver growth, said Lin, now a professor at Peking University, during a session at the ongoing Boao Forum for Asia in south China's Hainan Province.

"As I've said last year, China has the potential to maintain an 8-percent annual growth for some 20 more years," Lin said.

China set its growth target for 2014 unchanged at around 7.5 percent to give more prominence to its reform agenda, but a string of economic indicators so far suggest China's first quarter growth may have slipped below the target.

China is due to release GDP data for the first quarter on April 16.