diff --git a/litellm/proxy/client/cli/commands/chat.py b/litellm/proxy/client/cli/commands/chat.py
index 780695a37bb..9eec992b12d 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/client/cli/commands/chat.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/client/cli/commands/chat.py
@@ -301,8 +301,8 @@ def _save_conversation(console: Console, messages: list[dict[str, str]], command
         filename += ".json"
 
     try:
-        with open(filename, "w") as f:
-            json.dump(messages, f, indent=2)
+        with open(filename, "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
+            json.dump(messages, f, indent=2, ensure_ascii=False)
         console.print(f"[green]Conversation saved to {filename}[/green]")
     except Exception as e:
         console.print(f"[red]Error saving conversation: {e}[/red]")
@@ -320,7 +320,7 @@ def _load_conversation(console: Console, command: str, system: str | None) -> li
         filename += ".json"
 
     try:
-        with open(filename, "r") as f:
+        with open(filename, "r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
             loaded: Final[_MessagesView] = {"messages": json.load(f)}
         console.print(f"[green]Conversation loaded from {filename}[/green]")
         return loaded["messages"]
diff --git a/tests/unit/proxy/client/cli/test_chat_commands.py b/tests/unit/proxy/client/cli/test_chat_commands.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0cf6c6908e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/proxy/client/cli/test_chat_commands.py
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from rich.console import Console
+
+from litellm.proxy.client.cli.commands.chat import (
+    _load_conversation,
+    _save_conversation,
+)
+
+
+def test_save_and_load_conversation_roundtrips_non_ascii(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
+    """/save writes readable UTF-8 (not \\uXXXX escapes) and /load reads it back on any locale."""
+    console = Console()
+    messages = [
+        {"role": "user", "content": "Café ☕ 東京"},
+        {"role": "assistant", "content": "日本語で返信します"},
+    ]
+    target = tmp_path / "conversation.json"
+
+    _save_conversation(console, messages, f"/save {target}")
+
+    saved = target.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
+    assert "東京" in saved
+    assert "\\u" not in saved
+
+    loaded = _load_conversation(console, f"/load {target}", system=None)
+    assert loaded == messages