Hong Kong protesters have won

Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, has said her government will formally withdraw an extradition bill that has ignited months of protests and plunged the territory into its biggest political crisis in decades.

In a five-minute televised address on Wednesday, Lam said her government would formally withdraw the controversial bill to “fully allay public concerns”.

The bill, which would have allowed the extradition of suspects to China to be tried under the mainland’s opaque judicial system, prompted the start of mass protests in June that have led to increasingly violent confrontations with police and the arrest of more than 1,000 people.

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Lam shelved the bill in June, and in July again insisted it was “dead” after weeks of protest, but has until now refused to withdraw it entirely – a key demand of the protesters who argued it could be revived in future.

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However, the chief executive did not concede on protesters’ other demands, which include an independent inquiry into police behaviour, amnesty for those arrested, and democratic reforms to give Hong Kong residents universal suffrage.

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Instead, Lam said her government would open a platform for dialogue, inviting community leaders, experts and others to investigate social issues and advise the government.

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It remains to be seen whether the measure will calm protests which have morphed into a much broader political movement, much of it fuelled by public anger at the police and the government.

“That alone is not going to be enough to satisfy an angry and frustrated public. The nature of the protest movement has transformed over the last 13 weeks,” said Adam Ni, a researcher at Macquarie University in Sydney. “If she does not take further steps, then we can expect the protests to continue.”

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A protester, who gave only his first name, Alan, said: “Of course I won’t accept it. We have five demands, we want all of them, not one less. The most important issue to be solved is the police abuse of power.”

The protests have pushed Hong Kong, a major financial and business hub, to the brink of a recession, with businesses and shops suffering and investors reconsidering their presence in the territory.

  The Guardian