While 54 percent of the respondents in a recent survey in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou considered the public to be more willing than before to join efforts to tackle air pollution, 49 percent said the public had taken little action for this purpose.

In a February survey of 1,500 residents in the three cities by Guangzhou Public Opinion Research Center, about 56 percent attributed the lack of action to insufficient channels by which to take part.

About 44 percent said the public lacked knowledge on how to participate, and 40 percent said it would make no difference whether the public joined in or not.

About 65 percent of those polled would choose to drive a car less to clean up the air, with the second and third most-selected options being burning less coal and sorting garbage.

About 76 percent of the respondents said they were not satisfied with air pollution treatment.