President Hu Jintao of China, was greeted by a collision of traditional pageantry and public protest as he arrived in London on a controversial state visit today.

London has rolled out the red carpet for the leader of the world's fastest growing economy, who swept up to Buckingham Palace in a ceremonial carriage.

Meanwhile, hundreds of anti-Beijing demonstrators lined The Mall to waving banners and chanting slogans denouncing human rights abuses by the Chinese regime.

Dozens of red and blue Tibetan sunrise flags flapped gamely in the breeze alongside banners denouncing torture, censorship and the repression of Falun Gong.

Facing the activists on the opposite side of The Mall were supporters of the President, some dressed in traditional costume, others proudly waving Chinese flags and Union flags.

Critics noted that President Hu was seated in the carriage on the side looking out over the more patriotic displays.

Mounted police were carrying out routine patrols among the crowds, but their presence was less forceful than in 1999 when more heavy-handed tactics marred a visit by Mr Hu's predecessor Jiang Zemin to London. Then, flags and banners were confiscated.

Tony Blair yesterday said peaceful demonstrations could go ahead uninhibited, wistfully adding that it was a relief they would be directed at "someone else".

The President and his wife Madam Liu Yongqing were greeted at Heathrow by the Princess Royal before receiving a ceremonial welcome from the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh on Horse Guards Parade.

Mr Blair, Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, and Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, joined the dignitaries on a dais in the parade ground.

The party then proceeded to the Palace where a banquet will take place this evening as a series of London landmarks - including Somerset House and the Millennium Eye - are bathed in red light as a mark of respect to the leader of one of the world’s last communist states.

Alison Reynolds, director of the Free Tibet Campaign which is arguing for an end to Chinese occupation of Tibet, said that she hoped the demonstration would send a strong message to the visiting President.

She said: "The point is that he gets to see the Tibetan flag, which is banned in China and Tibet. The message we want Tony Blair to deliver tomorrow is that Hu Jintao should meet the Dalai Lama.

"Tony Blair certainly has the influence, but whether he chooses to exercise it ... we sincerely hope our presence in the next couple of days will send a strong message."

Yau Ming, 58, a restaurateur from Chatham, Kent, was among the pro-China supporters who arrived by coach early this morning. He said: "He is a marvellous President. I have just come back from there and China is a very, very advanced country, a marvellous country."

Golzar Ddashi was among the practitioners of the Falun Gong spiritual movement who had aligned with the Free Tibet campaigners.

She said: "More than 100,000 practitioners have been put in jail. We are here to ask the president to stop this and let people continue to practise Falun Gong."

Ngawang Dhargyal, 31, a refugee who came to London from Tibet in 2003, said: "Genocide is still going on in Tibet, there are no human rights and Tibetan identities, culture and traditions are in danger. We have to find a peaceful solution by engaging in a proper negotiation without conditions with Dali Lama."

Tomorrow Mr Hu will address the House of Commons and meet Mr Blair for formal diplomatic talks at Downing Street. Trade and the environment are on the agenda, but it is unlikely that the discussions will touch on Tibet or human rights.

Mr Blair made clear yesterday that he wanted to discuss Britain’s growing multibillion-pound annual trade with China, which is on course to become the world’s second-largest economy in the next 15 years. He also wants better co-operation with the Chinese at the United Nations Security Council, where both countries have permanent seats but often differ on how to deal with international crises.

Mr Hu is expected to press for the lifting of the European Union arms embargo against China, and to pursue his request on visits to Germany and Spain later this week.

The EU had planned this year to lift the ban, which was imposed in 1989 after the crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square, but backed down under US pressure and after China passed a law authorising force against Taiwan if it seceded from the mainland.

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