Accompanying President Donald Trump on his first visit to China, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio travelled to Beijing after a diplomatic workaround involving a change in the Chinese transliteration of his name, despite existing sanctions imposed by Beijing.

Rubio, who had previously been sanctioned twice by China during his tenure as a US senator for his outspoken criticism of human rights issues, was barred under his earlier transliterated name.

In order to enable his entry without formally lifting the sanctions, the Chinese authorities began transliterating the first syllable of his surname with a different Chinese character for “lu.”

The linguistic adjustment is seen as a pragmatic diplomatic workaround, allowing China to maintain its sanctions while still engaging with Rubio in his new role as the US Secretary of State.

Prior to this visit, China said on Tuesday it would not block Rubio, now 54 and visiting China for the first time, from entering on Air Force One with Trump, the first US president to visit the Asian power in nearly a decade.

“The sanctions target Mr Rubio’s words and deeds when he served as a US senator concerning China,” Chinese embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu said.

Two diplomats said they believed the change was an immediate way for China to avoid implementing its sanctions, as Rubio was banned from entering under the old spelling of his name.

A State Department official had confirmed only that Rubio was travelling with Trump.

After becoming state secretary, Rubio, an outspoken critic of communism, has supported Trump, who describes his counterpart Xi Jinping as a friend and has focused on building a trade relationship with China.

— Additional input from AFP