Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Wednesday that the United States must “stay ahead of the curve” on innovation to counter China’s widespread intellectual property theft, arguing that Beijing has leveraged stolen American technology to fuel its progress.

“A lot of the advancements you’ve seen in the commercial sector and the industrial sector, the technological sector in China, is a product of intellectual property theft and/or reverse engineering, which is the same thing, of our own technology,” Rubio said.

“That has to be addressed.”

In an exclusive interview on “Hannity,” Rubio described intellectual property theft as an “enormous issue” that the Trump administration plans to confront in Thursday’s high-stakes talks with China.

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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on May 12, 2026, as he departs for a 3-day state visit to China. (Getty Images)

“We’re not trying to constrain China, but their rise cannot come at our expense. Their rise cannot come at our fall,” Rubio said.

He insisted that his warning only scratches the surface and stressed that enforcement alone won’t be enough, arguing that America’s long-term advantage depends on outpacing China in innovation.

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China’s President Xi Jinping, right, and U.S. President Donald Trump visit the Temple of Heaven on May 14, 2026, in Beijing, China. (Brendan Smialowski – Pool/Getty Images)

“One thing is, if you’re stealing or taking the stuff that was cutting edge five years ago, but the things that are going to be cutting edge years from now, we’ve got to continue to invest and push our companies to continue to stay ahead of that pace of theft and continue to lead the world in innovation.”

Rubio’s remarks came ahead of meetings in China where President Donald Trump, several key members of his administration and multiple U.S. business leaders were slated to participate in a summit to discuss trade, artificial intelligence and more.

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The secretary of state offered his thoughts ahead of the summit.

“They [China] believe they will be the world’s most powerful country, they’ll surpass the United States, and they have a plan to do it. And they’re executing on that plan,” he said.

“We, on the other hand, don’t view it that way.”