A long-term survey has found that Chinese citizens' satisfaction with the government has increased virtually across the board since 2003.

The survey was titled "Understanding CCP Resilience: Surveying Chinese Public Opinion Through Time" and published in July by the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School.

It showed that "from the impact of broad national policies to the conduct of local town officials, Chinese citizens rate the government as more capable and effective than ever before."

"More marginalized groups in poorer, inland regions are actually comparatively more likely to report increases in satisfaction," said the survey.

The survey contained data from eight separate waves between 2003 and 2016, and recorded face-to-face interview responses from more than 31,000 individuals in both urban and rural settings.

In 2003, the central government received a strong level of satisfaction, with 86.1 percent expressing approval, said the survey, adding that this high level of satisfaction increased even further by 2016, reaching 93.1 percent.

Satisfaction with provincial government rose from 75 percent to 81.7 percent during the period from 2003 to 2016, while for county government the satisfaction rates rose from 52 percent to 73.9 percent, and for township government the rates increased from 43.6 percent to 70.2 percent across the same period, according to the survey.

The study pointed out that the public's greater satisfaction with the Chinese government's performance is mainly driven by improvements to material well-being, with Chinese citizens reporting that essential public services such as healthcare, welfare among others were far better and more equitable than in 2003.