BEIJING, Dec. 18-- A new TV series, which features interviews with informants, punished officials and representatives from China's top disciplinary watchdog, has revealed stories behind the campaign to improve officials' working practice.

The four-episode program, jointly produced by the publicity department of the Communist Party of China's (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV), was first aired on Monday.

The production team visited 18 Chinese provincial-level regions and covered more than 30 cases, according to the CCDI website on Monday.

In one case, a CPC grassroots organization in Wuxi City in east China's Jiangsu Province was found to have used public funds to pay for a meeting for 83 officials in 2012. The meeting involved a jaunt to China's southeast coastal resort of Xiamen .

"I spoke to our village's Party chief and said: 'Didn't you see the TV show about the CPC's eight measures to fight extravagance and waste? The money used to cover the travel of those 80-plus officials was from taxpayers' pockets," Zhou Jiankang told the film crew.

Zhou had reported the violation to the local disciplinary authority in Wuxi.

Investigators later found that the officials had only conducted a half-day meeting and the remainder of the four-day tour was spent sight-seeing, according to the TV series.

Ling Feng, manager of a local travel agency, told the program that the tour cost over 380,000 yuan (61,128 U.S. dollars).

In January 2013, the organizer of the tour was removed from office and all the participants of the meeting were told to pay their share in the total cost.

"I just can't regret it more, really. It was such a huge mistake" Shao Liang, one of those who attended the jaunt, said in the documentary.

This case, along with five other violations, was previously, albeit briefly, disclosed by the CCDI in 2013.

As of Oct. 31 this year, the CCDI has openly named and shamed the officials involved in 52 cases that centered on frugality and work practice violations. Local disciplinary authorities also made public more than 725 relevant violation cases.

A total of 67,737 such violations have been investigated and 89,585 officials have been punished, according to the program.

"To judge a political party, an element is to see its nature, then, its principles and its work style," the opening narration of the program explained.

Another high-profile case covered by the program was that of a public-funded banquet that caused the death of an official.

The CCDI last year publicized the case of Fu Xiaoguang, a provincial-level official in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, who was demoted for organizing the dinner, which resulted in the death of one of his associates.

The reception was held at a popular scenic spot in the province and local forestry administration funds were used to foot the bill.

Meng Qing'an, Party chief of the administration, was with Fu and six others at the dinner, the TV series revealed.

Meng had an existing heart condition, but felt forced to drink alcohol with Fu during the dinner.

"I told Fu that Meng had a heart problem and could not drink much, and said I could drink on his behalf," Feng Minzhang, one of Meng's subordinates told the program. "But Fu said 'No, it is not your turn'."

The next morning after the reception, Meng was found dead in his hotel room. The autopsy confirmed that the cause of death was a heart attack triggered by alcohol.

"We were under great pressure to entertain our superior officials," recalled Sun Shugong, one of the dinner guests and a former colleague of Meng.

"In the past, many officials were keen to visit us and most had a say in the performance assessment and ranking of our department. You can't afford to slight them," Sun said. "But now, such guests are few."

The program also covered the operation of the CCDI's website, which was launched in September last year and quickly accumulated over 230 million visits within seven months.

"We have a page that is designed to name and shame wayward officials. This has attracted public attention and it is also a signal of the authority's strong determination to enforce the Party's discipline," said Lin Qing, director of the CCDI's Internet center.

According to the program, the website releases the latest developments in major corruption and violation cases on Fridays. Media and netizens visit the website regularly to check the latest updates.

The program was aired at 8:00 p.m. on Monday to Thursday this week. It is also available to view on the CCDI's website.