diff --git a/itsdangerous.py b/itsdangerous.py
index 228d101..fc72e47 100644
--- a/itsdangerous.py
+++ b/itsdangerous.py
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ def loads(self, payload):
         return json.loads(payload)
 
     def dumps(self, obj):
-        return json.dumps(obj, separators=(',', ':'))
+        return json.dumps(obj, ensure_ascii=False, separators=(',', ':'))
 
 
 compact_json = _CompactJSON()