Protesters still remain on the streets in Mong Kok and other parts of Hong Kong
Hong
Kong officials have ended their first round of talks with students,
with the government's chief negotiator saying she hoped for further
meetings with protest leaders.
Students at the talks reiterated their demand for an
unrestricted choice of candidates in the election for the territory's
chief executive in 2017.But both Hong Kong and Beijing officials have said this is impossible.
Protests have blocked key parts of the city, although numbers have fallen.
The BBC's Juliana Liu in Hong Kong says that although demonstrators know the chances of getting what they want are almost zero, they are staying on the streets to show authorities that the struggle for democratic reform is a long-term fight.
'Numbers game' The government's negotiation team was led by the city's most senior civil servant, Chief Secretary Carrie Lam, and the students were represented by five leaders.
Meetings have been called off twice in recent weeks.
The talks, which began at 18:00 local time (11:00 BST), focused on the students' demands that China reconsiders its ruling on how candidates for elections will be chosen.
Student leaders reiterated their position that they want Hong Kong leadership elections to be more democratic - a demand rejected by Ms Lam.
"As far as their position is concerned I'm afraid we can only agree to disagree," she said.
Alex Chow, secretary general of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, said the government's stance was "vague".
"We would say that the government needs to further explain it in front of the public," he added.
Leaders of the Hong Kong Federation of Students met government representatives from the territory
In a photo call before the talks began, the differences between the two sides could not be more stark.On one side sat the protest leaders - one woman and four men, all in their early-20s and wearing jeans and black T-shirts with the words Freedom Now written in English.
Across from them sat another group - also consisting of one woman and four men, but decades older, wearing business attire and representing the Hong Kong government.
Students versus civil servants. Youth versus middle age. Idealism versus pragmatism.
In terms of rhetoric, the students were more passionate and florid, appealing to the public with their arguments about freedom and democracy.
The government officials tended to dwell more on legalities.
But, in the end, little was agreed and the government has expressed hopes of further talks.
"If it's entirely a numbers game and numeric representation, then obviously you would be talking to half of the people in Hong Kong who earn less than $1,800 (£1,110) a month," he told reporters.
"Then you would end up with that kind of politics and policies."
Mr Leung said problems such as the lack of social mobility and unaffordable housing were "not acceptable", and the government needed to do more to solve them.
But he argued that Beijing's position, under which candidates will be screened by a "broadly representative" nominating committee before they go to an open election, was better.
He pointed to the fact that his own appointment in 2012 had to be endorsed by a 1,200-member committee which was made up of people from various sectors of society and professions.
Mr Leung said the make-up of the nomination committee might offer room for negotiation.
Student demonstrators have set up study areas, with fluorescent lighting, at the Admiralty protest site
