Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying warned pro-democracy demonstrators on Wednesday that they risked bringing "anarchy" to the financial hub, as he sought to bolster his support in his first policy address since protests rocked the city last year.

The annual policy blueprint has been a key platform for leaders in the Chinese-controlled city to hand out billions to the less-advantaged in the form of tax breaks, or to signal shifts in economic, property and political policies.

But even before Leung delivered his speech in the legislature, opposition lawmakers called on him to step down while holding up banners demanding full democracy. Some walked out of the chamber holding up yellow umbrellas — instantly recognizable as symbols of the unprecedented protests last year.