Human rights campaigners have warned Alex Salmond and the wider public not to let China's gift of two pandas to Edinburgh zoo distract them from demanding better civil rights in the country.

Amnesty International and Free Tibet said they feared China's gift of Tian Tian and Yang Guang could divert political and public attention from the oppression by Chinese authorities of artists, political critics and religious minorities.

The giant pandas, a breeding pair, fly into Edinburgh on Sunday on a ten-year loan as part of China's global research programme to conserve the endangered species. They will become the first pandas to live in Britain for nearly 20 years.

The pair are expected to significantly boost the zoo's popularity, but are designed to cement closer economic, academic and industrial ties between China and the UK, which have already seen fresh multibillion-pound Chinese investment deals.

In his third trade mission to China, Salmond arrives in Beijing this weekend for a week-long tour to promote renewable energy technology, trade deals, cultural links and Scottish produce, taking in cities in Shandong and Shenzhen, and Hong Kong.

Shabnum Mustapha, the director of Amnesty International Scotland, said she hoped the pandas would not "represent a distraction from raising concerns about China's human rights record".

Mustapha said this month alone the authorities had persuaded major companies to increase their censorship of the internet and threatened the artist Ai Weiwei with prosecution for "illegal fundraising" after donors gave him £500,000 to help meet a £1.5m tax bill that the state "had manufactured out of thin air".

Mustapha added: "Amnesty International hopes that the gift of pandas ensures Scotland continues its dialogue with China on human rights issues and we hope that the first minister will also do this while he is on his visit to China."

Stephanie Brigden, the director of the Free Tibet movement, which campaigns against China's occupation, said this use of "soft power" was designed to deflect attention from China's heavy-handed rule in Tibet and its poor record on executions, torture and detention without trial.

"The British public loves animals, but these pandas, gorgeous as they are, must not distract us from taking the strongest possible line with China over human rights and speaking up for Tibet," she said.

"There is nothing cuddly or cute about the unelected ruling Chinese Communist party. China is effectively a police state which is illegally occupying Tibet."

Supporters of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, which has endured heavy sanctions and suppression in China, picketed a National Ballet of China production at this year's Edinburgh international festival, which had substantial financial and cultural support from China.

Mustapha said Salmond had already taken an active interest in China's human rights records, meeting Amnesty experts for briefings. Scottish officials had reassured Amnesty that the first minister had raised human rights issues with Chinese officials on an earlier visit.

A spokesman for Salmond said the first minister had met Professor Alan Miller, chairman of the Scottish human rights commission, last week in preparation for his tour.

Amnesty, which is banned in China, had also provided detailed reports on Chinese political and civil rights to the Scottish government. It was also a member of the Scottish government's advisory group on drafting a new China plan for ministers and investment agencies.

The main priority, Mustapha said, was to ensure that civil and workers rights are thoroughly embedded in all Scotland's dealings with China by ministers, institutions such as universities, and Scottish employers and businesses. "We mustn't miss these opportunities," she said.

Salmond's spokesman implied that the first minister agreed. "Respect for human rights is critical to China's long term prosperity and social stability, therefore engaging on human rights is in both our best interests, and progress in developing further cultural and commercial ties and in engaging on human rights go hand in hand," the spokesman said.

"China has made considerable progress both in human rights and economically over the last 30 years and we all want that progress to continue."