The State Department announced the release of Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung. A U.S. government official told NBC News the three were exchanged for two Chinese detainees.

Three American citizens imprisoned for years by China have been released and are returning to the United States, the White House said Wednesday, announcing a rare diplomatic agreement with Beijing in the final months of the Biden administration.

The deal suggests a willingness by Beijing to engage with the Biden administration before Donald Trump's return to the White House.

The State Department downgraded its travel advisory for China on Wednesday after the release of three U.S. citizens who had been held in the country for years.

Three Americans have been released after spending years imprisoned in China, the White House said Wednesday. Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung were released and would soon "return and be reunited with their families for the first time in many years,

The three US nationals were swapped for four people, including three Chinese citizens who were returned to China. View on euronews

Americans Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung are en route back to the United States from imprisonment in China, the White House said.

Three Americans who the State Department said were wrongfully detained in China for years are on their way back to the U.S. as part of a prisoner swap, a senior U.S. official with knowledge of the deal told ABC News.

A U.S. official said President Joe Biden pressed for the return of the three when he met Chinese President Xi Jinping at a regional summit in Peru.

The United States has brokered the release of three Americans in a deal with China that includes the exchange of unidentified Chinese citizens held in the U.S., Politico said on Wednesday citing an unnamed U.