Representatives of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government and leaders of the Hong Kong Federation of Students held long-awaited talks on Tuesday, in a bid to seek any possibility for breaking the standoff in the Occupy Central movement, the first dialogue in nearly one month protest.

It's a laudable move by the Hong Kong government to hold talks. This displays the authorities' sincerity and willingness in addressing the current confrontation, although the two sides failed to narrow down their gap on the method of electing the region's chief executive in 2017.

The Hong Kong government said after the talks that it will submit an official report to the State Council's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office that reflects the public's views regarding the changes in elections for Hong Kong's top post, which was set out by the National People's Congress Standing Committee on August 31.

As the Hong Kong authorities are often blamed for not conveying the public's message to the central government, the offer shows that the government is playing an appropriate role as a bridge between the society and the central government.

The dialogue, to some extent, serves as an opportunity for the student protesters to express their dissatisfaction and is hence helpful for bringing breakthroughs in the current standoff.

But it's too early to be optimistic about the development of the movement. The protesters were firm that the framework set on August 31 should be revoked and candidates for the city's top post be nominated by citizens or political parties. But such demands will in no way be met by the government.

I know that some locals are planning to go to work in the day and join the movement in the night. Under such circumstances, it's very likely that the Occupy protest will continue.

However, voices of opposition to the Occupy movement are mounting recently, as it has severely affected the lives and business of many residents. A loss of HK$2 billion ($258 million) has been caused so far just to the transport industry. The movement has been somewhat messy and gone out of control, a judgment also echoed by local business unions.

Before launching the movement, the organizers were fully aware that the protests were against local laws and would bring negative effects to the region's rule of law. But as the occupied areas expand to more places and people from other sectors and even external forces join, they may have not expected the movement to be so extensive and cause so many losses. The orders of the organizers don't even necessarily work out now.