Pro- and anti-China protesters competed for attention in front of Parliament House in Canberra as Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
The president will address parliament on Monday afternoon and is expected to sign a multibillion dollar free trade deal with Mr Abbott.
The pro-China group was comprised mostly of young university students wearing red hats and carrying large Chinese flags.
But there were also yellow-clad protesters calling for justice for followers of the Falun Gong spiritual group, as well as a small group of people rallying for Tibetan rights.
There was a heavy police presence keeping an eye on the peaceful but noisy protest, consisting of about 120 people.
ANU international relations student Xiying Lei, 27, organised volunteer students for the pro-China rally.
"We all want to see our president, we love him so much," he told AAP.
"We are telling Australians the truth about what's happening in China."
Falun Gong spokeswoman Caroline Dobson hopes Mr Abbott will raise human rights with President Xi, in particular the persecution of people belonging to the spiritual movement.
"The worst atrocity is organ harvesting," she told AAP.
"There's so many ... in labour camps and jails that they are killed to order."
ACT Tibetan community spokeswoman Tsering Deki said Tibet was an autonomous region in China in name only.
"We are urging Xi to relax the brutal policies on Tibet and listen to the hopes and aspirations of the Tibetan people," she said.
