Prominent Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng has left the US embassy in Beijing, a week after seeking shelter after escaping from house arrest.
State news agency Xinhua said he left "of his own volition". Neither side had confirmed Mr Chen's whereabouts.
He is having a check-up at a Beijing hospital. A US official said he had made no request to leave China.
The announcement came as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in China for high-level annual talks.
Mr Chen's case threatened to overshadow the summit, which had been due to focus on issues like Syria and trade.
Ambassador's call
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Analysis
image of Michael Bristow Michael Bristow BBC News, Beijing
The wait for news about Chen Guangcheng is over.
The blind activist is thought to have entered the US embassy in Beijing last Thursday - but for days neither China nor America would confirm those suspicions.
Analysts said that something would have to be done about Mr Chen's situation before high-level talks between the two countries start in Beijing on Thursday. And that is how it has worked out.
There are details in this case that have yet to be revealed - but it would not be surprising if China and the US, along with the activist, have come to some kind of arrangement.
China has protested about the US helping Mr Chen into its embassy, as is to be expected. But Beijing also seems to have shown some flexibility. The activist's family are in the Chinese capital, which could not have happened without the government's approval.
The question that now needs answering is where will Chen Guangcheng and his family finally end up.
The US ambassador to Beijing, Gary Locke, telephoned the Washington Post newspaper to say he had Mr Chen in his car and was taking him to a medical facility in Beijing.
A correspondent for the newspaper said he had spoken to the dissident, who had said he was fine.
The BBC's Damian Grammaticas met his wife at the hospital. She told him that she and their two children were well.
Moments after the announcement that the dissident was out of the US embassy, China's foreign ministry demanded an apology from Washington.
Foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said Chen Guangcheng had been taken into the US embassy "via abnormal measures" and the Chinese authorities were "strongly dissatisfied".
The spokesman said Beijing did not accept the "interference", and reminded the US to obey international and Chinese law.
Mr Chen, who has been blind since childhood, has long been a high-profile figure and international rights groups have frequently expressed alarm at the treatment of him and his family.
He was placed under house arrest in 2010 after spending more than four years in jail for disrupting traffic and damaging property.
Mr Chen exposed how local authorities in Linyi, in Shandong province, forced thousands of women to have abortions or be sterilised as part of China's one-child policy
US officials have often raised Mr Chen's case with China on human rights grounds.
The hospital where Mr Chen has been sent The dissident is having a check-up at this Beijing hospital
His colleagues said the escape from house arrest had taken months to plan, and was carried out with the help of a network of friends and activists.
He scaled the wall that the authorities had built around his house, and was driven hundreds of miles to Beijing, where activists say he stayed in safe houses before fleeing to the embassy.
Several people involved in Mr Chen's escape have been detained or have disappeared in recent days, and fellow activist Hu Jia has been questioned.
Mr Chen's departure from the US mission comes as Hillary Clinton arrived in Beijing for two days of talks due to take place on Thursday and Friday.
Continue reading the main story
Chen Guangcheng
Born 12 Nov 1971
Nickname: The Barefoot Lawyer
Went blind as a child
Campaigned for women forced to have abortions or sterilisation under China's one child per family policy
Jailed for four years in 2006 for disrupting traffic and damaging property
Released from jail in 2010 placed under house arrest
Daughter barred from school during much of 2011, reports say
Escapes house arrest, April 2012
Profile: Chen Guangcheng
Ahead of the trip, Mrs Clinton said that she would discuss rights issues with Chinese officials.
"A constructive relationship includes talking very frankly about those areas where we do not agree, including human rights," she said.
"I can certainly guarantee that we will be discussing every matter, including human rights, that is pending between us."
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will also be present during the US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue with senior Chinese officials on Thursday and Friday.
Iran, Syria and North Korea are also thought to be on the agenda.
The US has just blinked.......
State news agency Xinhua said he left "of his own volition". Neither side had confirmed Mr Chen's whereabouts.
He is having a check-up at a Beijing hospital. A US official said he had made no request to leave China.
The announcement came as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in China for high-level annual talks.
Mr Chen's case threatened to overshadow the summit, which had been due to focus on issues like Syria and trade.
Ambassador's call
Continue reading the main story
Analysis
image of Michael Bristow Michael Bristow BBC News, Beijing
The wait for news about Chen Guangcheng is over.
The blind activist is thought to have entered the US embassy in Beijing last Thursday - but for days neither China nor America would confirm those suspicions.
Analysts said that something would have to be done about Mr Chen's situation before high-level talks between the two countries start in Beijing on Thursday. And that is how it has worked out.
There are details in this case that have yet to be revealed - but it would not be surprising if China and the US, along with the activist, have come to some kind of arrangement.
China has protested about the US helping Mr Chen into its embassy, as is to be expected. But Beijing also seems to have shown some flexibility. The activist's family are in the Chinese capital, which could not have happened without the government's approval.
The question that now needs answering is where will Chen Guangcheng and his family finally end up.
The US ambassador to Beijing, Gary Locke, telephoned the Washington Post newspaper to say he had Mr Chen in his car and was taking him to a medical facility in Beijing.
A correspondent for the newspaper said he had spoken to the dissident, who had said he was fine.
The BBC's Damian Grammaticas met his wife at the hospital. She told him that she and their two children were well.
Moments after the announcement that the dissident was out of the US embassy, China's foreign ministry demanded an apology from Washington.
Foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said Chen Guangcheng had been taken into the US embassy "via abnormal measures" and the Chinese authorities were "strongly dissatisfied".
The spokesman said Beijing did not accept the "interference", and reminded the US to obey international and Chinese law.
Mr Chen, who has been blind since childhood, has long been a high-profile figure and international rights groups have frequently expressed alarm at the treatment of him and his family.
He was placed under house arrest in 2010 after spending more than four years in jail for disrupting traffic and damaging property.
Mr Chen exposed how local authorities in Linyi, in Shandong province, forced thousands of women to have abortions or be sterilised as part of China's one-child policy
US officials have often raised Mr Chen's case with China on human rights grounds.
The hospital where Mr Chen has been sent The dissident is having a check-up at this Beijing hospital
His colleagues said the escape from house arrest had taken months to plan, and was carried out with the help of a network of friends and activists.
He scaled the wall that the authorities had built around his house, and was driven hundreds of miles to Beijing, where activists say he stayed in safe houses before fleeing to the embassy.
Several people involved in Mr Chen's escape have been detained or have disappeared in recent days, and fellow activist Hu Jia has been questioned.
Mr Chen's departure from the US mission comes as Hillary Clinton arrived in Beijing for two days of talks due to take place on Thursday and Friday.
Continue reading the main story
Chen Guangcheng
Born 12 Nov 1971
Nickname: The Barefoot Lawyer
Went blind as a child
Campaigned for women forced to have abortions or sterilisation under China's one child per family policy
Jailed for four years in 2006 for disrupting traffic and damaging property
Released from jail in 2010 placed under house arrest
Daughter barred from school during much of 2011, reports say
Escapes house arrest, April 2012
Profile: Chen Guangcheng
Ahead of the trip, Mrs Clinton said that she would discuss rights issues with Chinese officials.
"A constructive relationship includes talking very frankly about those areas where we do not agree, including human rights," she said.
"I can certainly guarantee that we will be discussing every matter, including human rights, that is pending between us."
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will also be present during the US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue with senior Chinese officials on Thursday and Friday.
Iran, Syria and North Korea are also thought to be on the agenda.
The US has just blinked.......
