Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a New Year speech Tuesday evening in Beijing to ring in 2020. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

A long list of books recommended by Chinese President Xi Jinping has been trending on Chinese social media on Thursday, the World Book Day, as many netizens liked, shared and commented under the booklist, saying Xi and the books inspired them.

The booklist, posted by the People's Daily on its mobile app on Thursday, summarized previous reports by media outlets including the People's Daily, China Central Television and the Xinhua News Agency, in which Xi mentioned or quoted the books in public reports or his speeches in the past. 

Infographic: GT

Topping the list are classic works of Marxism-Leninism such as The Communist Manifesto. Xi said The Communist Manifesto is a treasure trove of rich theories and is worthy of repeated learning and deep study from which to draw ideological nutrition.

In terms of the philosophy and jurisprudence category, Xi commented on The Origin and Goal of History, saying the reason why the Chinese nation has enjoyed the significant status and influence from ancient to modern times is due to Chinese culture's strong appeal rather than the practice of military might and expansion to foreign lands.

Stories to Enlighten the World, Stories to Caution the World and Stories to Awaken the World are some of Chinese classics Xi said he read every day for a certain period of time, to the extent that he could recite many of the epigrams in them.

Xi is also partial to works of modern Chinese literature, such as those by Jia Dashan. Xi said he had read several novels by Jia, and was often impressed by his humorous language, philosophical analyses, beautiful and truthful depictions and subtle and unique plots.

Xi also reads many foreign classics, including Shakespeare's plays. He said he was drawn to the ups and downs of the plots, vivid characters and touching emotions revealed in the plays. 

Xi said that when he was young and working in the poor yellow earth of Northern Shaanxi, he kept thinking about the question "To be, or not to be," and he eventually decided to devote himself to the motherland and the people.

Many more books of different genres, including classics, modern works, Chinese and foreign, are included in the list.

The booklist, also posted on the WeChat account of the People's Daily, has gained more than 100,000 views as of press time.

"President Xi likes reading and learning. He is an inspiration to us!" reads a typical comment under the booklist, which had been liked more than 13,000 times as of press time.

"I haven't read as many, but have read one or two in each genre." "I have added this booklist to my favorite, and I'll start reading from the Chinese classics." "I hope it's not too late to start reading now," many netizens said.

Others shared similar reading experiences, with one saying proudly that both Xi and he had read How the Steel Was Tempered, and the other saying that he had read The Old Man and the Sea just like Xi.

Another of Xi's booklists summarized on Thursday by cpcnews.cn, the news website of the Communist Party of China, explained that Xi has been reading since he was young, and stressed that government officials must read books.

The website also categorized the books by the country of origin, and showed that Xi had read many books not only from China, but also the United States, Russia, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, India as well as ancient Greece.