RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 20 -- Brazil can learn a lot from China to open up for competition and boost growth, a U.S. expert said Wednesday.

Brazil "can open up for competition, little by little," much like China did in the past, Ann Lee, an economics and finance professor with New York University, said at a seminar here.

Lee, an expert on Chinese economy, praised the Chinese model, which, according to her, is based on concrete experiences.

She said Brazil can learn from China's experiences in special economic zones and be more open, even if in just a few sectors at first.

"Forty years ago, China had a 100-percent state-owned economy, with no private industry whatsoever. And they had to learn how to integrate themselves into the current global order... where private industry played a role. They had to figure out how to move from their then state to a different state, when they had no real market economy, and there were not rulebooks or blueprints," Lee said.

"China realized they had to do things step by step through trial and error," she added.

Brazil is going through a presidential campaign and general elections will be held in October.

Lee aid she believes Brazil can get more dynamism and increase its global presence, adding that in order to achieve more growth, the country needs a plan to advance, as well as a political figure with a strategic vision to conciliate different interests and gather them around the same policy.

Again, that is a strategy that has worked for China. "China has strategic plans that they have announced to the whole world; it is like a goal setting exercise for them, where they say 'this is where we would like to be,' and 'these are our aspirations.' And then they try to align all the government officials to carry them out," she said. "By having hard targets like that, they help attract the right kind of talent and businesses to China to help them reach those goals."

According to Lee, Brazil has a lot of potential to achieve more growth like China did, while China, which is developing onto a new level, can help Brazil achieve that goal.

At this new phase of development, China will focus on its domestic economy and boost its service sector, which represents a big opportunity for a number of countries including Brazil, Lee said.

In addition, the fact that China is now focusing on the environmental area provides an opportunity for Brazil to invest in the sector, she added.

"There are many more opportunities for opening up, if Brazil chooses to latch onto them," the expert said.