BEIJING, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- True civilizational progress is a process of building on one's own cultural foundation while critically assimilating the outstanding achievements of the human race rather than simply imitating or transplanting a particular model, a think tank report said on Saturday.

The report, titled "Theory on the Development of Civilizations -- Building a New Vision of Civilizations with Development at the Core," was released by Xinhua Institute, a national high-level think tank of Xinhua News Agency.

Although the road to the modernization of human society is manifold, since the 19th century the West has claimed that all civilizations must modernize along the "Western road," while historical practice has offered a profound rebuttal, the report said.

It noted that the fundamental failure of this "Western paradigm" lies in reducing civilizational development to the mechanical transfer of technology and institutions while neglecting the historicity and uniqueness of the core of civilization.

According to the report, the breakthrough significance of Chinese modernization lies precisely in the wisdom of upholding fundamentals and pursuing innovation, breaking the myth that "modernization equals Westernization" and opening up a scientific path of civilizational development that revitalizes tradition and creates new forms of civilization through the dialectical unity of inheritance and innovation.

The report calls for prioritizing the inheritance and innovation of civilization, tapping fully into the contemporary value of each nation's historical culture, and promoting the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional cultures in the modernization process. ■