China's leader attended a state banquet at Buckingham Palace along with his wife, Peng Liyuan, on his four-day visit of the UK.
There was chanting by pro and anti-China supporters and, during a press photo call for the Amnesty protesters, huge Chinese flags interrupted their line of vision and drumming from the groups in support of the leader intensified.
People handed out bright red 'I love China' t-shirts and the crowds coming out in favour of President Xi dwarfed those who rallied against the communist ruler.
Among Amnesty International protesters was Dr Shao Ting, a research scholar who was involved with the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest.
Dr Shao, who now lives in London, says he was protesting because if the British government follows the Chinese model, it will "push the issue of human rights away".
Amnesty, pro-Tibet and Falun Gong protesters watched on as the Mall was flanked by hordes of people clad in bright red shouting "Xi Jinping, Xi Jinping" as the politician was driven past in a gilded carriage.
Amnesty protesters say they wanted to raise cases such as that of Cao Shunli, a human rights activist who died in police detention having been denied medical attention. Her family were reportedly denied access to her body.
One pro-China group were visiting from Swansea University. They did not wish to be named, but one man says they were out supporting President Xi "because it (China) is our country - and we are so proud".
"His visit will strengthen the link between the two countries and benefit both sides in terms of the economy." he said.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union says research shows 1970s services were faster than those advertised by Great Western Railways for Intercity trains.
The promised London to Cardiff journey time is 113 minutes, compared to 105 minutes under British Rail in 1977.
GWR said the union was not comparing like with like.
It also said electrification of the track would increase speeds to match some of the 1970 times, and there were more frequent services now that also stopped at more stations.
London - Bristol Temple Meads: 90 minutes
London - Cardiff: 113 minutes
London - Swansea: 164 minutes
London - Bristol Temple Meads: 85 minutes
London - Cardiff: 105 minutes
London - Swansea: 163 minutes
Source: RMT
RMT general secretary Mick Cash said the report demonstrated the failures of rail privatisation.
"Privatised rail services are not only more overcrowded and expensive they are also slower.
"And of course as well as being publicly owned, British Rail trains were publicly manufactured for far less cost in the UK, as opposed to the new IEP trains which are manufactured in Japan."
GWR said some of the RMT's facts were incorrect, challenging a claim that the London-Bristol journey time would be slower.
"The fastest Bristol-London journey time, quoted by the RMT, in 1977 was one hour 25 minutes. Following electrification and the new trains, this will be one hour 19 minutes, that's six minutes faster than in 1977.
"In 1977, six trains ran every two hours between Cardiff-London and Bristol-London, compared to 12 trains every two hours following electrification and the introduction of new trains. That's double the number of services.
"The fastest Cardiff-London journey time, quoted by the RMT, in 1977 was one hour 45 minutes. This will be the same with the introduction of electrification and new trains."
RMT is in dispute with GWR over plans to cut guards and buffet car services.
Stuart Cole, professor of transport at the University of South Wales, said there had been one express train in the 1970s which ran direct from Cardiff to London without stopping.
"There was no Bristol Parkway then. They've picked the train which was the fastest as far as I can understand it; one train in the morning which did one hour 41 minutes. Most of them took longer than that.
"It they took the average journey times, that would be much more sensible."
Calling for a publically-owned railway system, Cardiff Central Labour MP Jo Stevens said privatised rail had been a failure which delivered "little by way of improvements for passengers in Cardiff but plenty by way of taxpayer subsidies for the directors and shareholders of [Great Western Railway]".
Protesters gathered at London's St James' Park as President of China Xi Jinping took part in a procession down The Mall.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
New £4.5m trains running from London to south Wales will be slower than those 40 years ago, a transport union has claimed.