BEIJING (CHINA DAILY/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a New Year speech in his office on the eve of 2018.

The display in his office has become a hot topic among Chinese people, especially the books on his shelves.

Here's a closer look at the eclectic taste of Mr Xi and hopefully get inspired to read some of these masterpieces.

Classics of Marxism and Leninism

This category of books, including a collection of significant documents on these topics, are readily visible on the shelf. They include The Communist Manifesto and Capital, Collected Works of Mao Zedong and Chronicle of Deng Xiaoping's Theory.

Philosophy

The second category covers philosophy books, such as Selections of Denis Diderot, Discourse on the Arts and Sciences by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Studies on Metaphysics.

Politics and law

Books in this category include works of Chinese leaders, the history of the Communist Party of China, foreign affairs and international relations. These include Notes on the History of CPC, China's Leadership In Global Governance and Intensive Studies on Mao's Reading Notes.

Military

Mr Xi's collection of military books include History of Chinese People's Liberation Army, An Encyclopedia of the Chinese Military History and A Brief History of Chinese Military History. Ancient Chinese works on the military also take a place on Mr Xi's bookshelf, such as The Six Secret Teachings and Thirty-six Stratagems, and foreign military works including The Theory on War by Carl Von Clausewitz.

History

The history books found on Mr Xi's bookshelves include Selections from Records of the Historian, Selections from the Book of Han, Selections from the Book of Later Han, A Global History and History of Modern Europe. Many of President Xi's quotes originate from these books. He once said history is the true record of the forming, development and vicissitudes of a nation and a country, and the encyclopedia of our predecessors.

Literature

Mr Xi also enjoys literature. His books include Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey, The Divine Comedy, War and Peace, The Government Inspector, Chameleon, Yevgény Onégin, Jean-Christophe, Ninety-Three, Dead Souls, A Nest of the Gentry, Les Misérables, Madame Bovary, La Dame aux Camélias, The Novels of Balzac, The Old Man and the Sea and Love of Life.

Culture and science

Books in this category include Chronicle of Chinese Culture, A World History of Art, Classical Music, Meixue Sanbu,The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake Our World, and Augmented: Life in the Smart Lane

Economics

Mr Xi's economic books include Ecological Economics, Capital and Collusion: The Political Logic of Global Economic Development, Money Changes Everything, Theorists of Economic Growth from David Hume to the Present: With a Perspective on the Next Century and The Gray Rhino: How to Recognize and Act on the Obvious Dangers We Ignore.

Chinese classics

Some examples are Book of Documents, Analects, Laozi, Mencius, Xunzi, and Discourses of the States.