Hong Kong, July 1 (Reuters): Hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy protesters marched in Hong Kong today, many calling for the city’s leader to be sacked.

Hong Kong chief executive Leung Chun-ying said his government would do its “utmost” to move towards universal suffrage and stressed the need for stability after nearly 800,000 people voted for full democracy in an unofficial referendum last month.

Organisers put the number of protesters at more than 510,000, emphasising this was a conservative estimate.

Johnson Yeung, convenor of the Civil Human Rights Front, one of the organisers of the march, said activists would take to the streets to occupy the business district if China does not respond to demands for a direct election in 2017.