Improving the way the Communist Party of China (CPC) is governed and fighting corruption  have topped the agenda of the ongoing sixth plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee.

During the past few years the CPC has focused on these two aspects and achieved fruitful results, but what does it actually mean for ordinary people living in China?

Among the Party’s efforts to tackle corruption, a Central Inspection campaign has been launched and inspection teams have been sent to various levels of government and state-owned enterprises (SOE). The scope of the inspection keeps doubling every year. In 2013, 20 government departments and SOEs were inspected, and it rose to 40 in 2014 and over 80 in 2015.

According to the data of Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, over a million people have been punished over the past four years for violating party discipline or laws, including low-level "flies" to high-ranking "tigers."

While these types of anti-corruption drives have seen the fall from grace of high-level officials making newspaper headlines, what has been the effect on Chinese citizens many of whom are not even members of the Party?

For ordinary people, one of the major benefits brought by the strict Party governance is the enhanced work efficiency of civil servants. The culture of “indifference” and “buck-passing” bureaucrats is thought to have been improved. There have also been efforts to cut red tape and unnecessary certifications which can take up so much time and effort in people’s lives.

There has also been a clamp-down on the culture of needing to “entertain” officials to get any work done. Anecdotally some high-level restaurants which relied on the expense accounts of officials dining with public funds have seen their revenues fall.

The prices of some delicate festival food has also become more accessible for ordinary people as China's discipline inspection bodies at all levels ramp up supervision against corruption and extravagance especially during holidays, which are often used as excuses for lavish behavior.

The attitude of the people towards the Party is also of vital significance. The hope is the stricter Party governance has increased people’s trust, confidence and satisfaction with the Party and the bodies that govern much of their lives.