Nearly 70 per cent of Hong Kong people said they knew nothing about the proposed legislation on racial discrimination, although nearly 60 per cent agreed such a law was needed.
A survey conducted by Unison Hong Kong in the past five months also found that 20 per cent of the 500 respondents felt racism was a 'moderate' problem.
The statistics will be given to the chairwoman of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Virginia Bonoan-Dandan, during her five-day visit to Hong Kong, which started yesterday.
Her observation will play a large part in the UN's assessment of the human rights situation in Hong Kong. The city, along with the mainland, is obligated to report on its implementation of economic, social and cultural rights to the committee in May.
Unison's executive director, Fony Chow Sau-fong, said older respondents were more likely to consider racism a serious problem.
She said the general perception towards ethnic minorities was very superficial and fragmented, with some respondents describing ethnic minorities as 'lazy, rude, impolite or filthy'.