Hong Kong - Half of Hong Kong people believe the city's air pollution is getting worse but most do not want to foot the bill for a cleaner environment, a survey found Monday.

Almost 50 per cent of people questioned said the city's air quality had worsened in recent years with only 7 per cent saying they believed it had improved.

However, more than half of the 550 interviewees in the survey by the Democratic Alliance political party said they would not pay higher electricity bills or bus fares for air quality improvement.

Hong Kong is notorious for its smog, which is so dense on some days that people with breathing problems are advised to stay indoors and it is impossible to see from one side of the landmark Victoria Harbour to the other.

The city's air quality has worsened considerably in the past decade with 80 per cent of pollution coming from factories in neighbouring Guangdong, southern China, the industrial area known as "the world's workshop."

University studies suggest the smog is driving away foreign business people and jeopardising the health of tens of thousands of Hong Kong citizens. (dpa)