Photo taken on May 27, 2020 shows a view of the Tian'anmen Square in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Liu Jinhai)

-Although this new development pattern puts more emphasis on self-sufficiency, it's improper to interpret it as a policy shift to less opening-up or less active interaction with foreign markets.

-As overseas demand is expected to remain subdued due to the global coronavirus pandemic, the political bureau meeting urged efforts to keep expanding domestic demand, counteract the impact of COVID-19, boost final consumption and create conditions for consumption upgrading.

-For domestic analysts, the "protracted-war" approach also reflects China's resolution to maintain strategic focus in a time full of uncertainties for high-quality development.

BEIJING, Aug. 5  -- In coping with the disruptions from the COVID-19 epidemic and global economic slowdown, China's leadership has emphasized the need to steer the world's second-largest economy as if fighting a protracted war.

It called for the quickened establishment of a new development pattern which gives full play to the advantages of a huge domestic market, so that domestic and foreign markets can boost each other. It also said the domestic market should be the mainstay, emphasizing the need to tackle challenges from a protracted-war perspective.

"Since many problems we face are long- and medium-term, resolving such problems is like fighting a protracted war," the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee noted in a meeting on July 30 where arrangements for the economic work for the second half of the year were made.

Although this new development pattern puts more emphasis on self-sufficiency, it's improper to interpret it as a policy shift to less opening-up or less active interaction with foreign markets.