The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced this week that it will continue operations despite a partial government shutdown.

“Using existing funds, USTR personnel continue to conduct all operations, including trade negotiations and enforcement,” the Trade Representative Office revealed on Friday.

The U.S. remains in the thick of trade negotiations with China. China has been pushing out developments on talks between the two nations, including progress on intellectual property. President Donald Trump has made abundantly clear that the U.S. requires that China stem the problem of Chinese theft of U.S. intellectual property as well as improvement of the trade imbalance.

China’s Commerce Ministry revealed this week that U.S. trade officials would travel to Beijing in January for trade talks. This comes after China promoted multiple calls between the two nations on the issue of trade.

The moves come after a December 1 meeting between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Argentina. The two agreed to pause plans for increased tariffs, and China agreed to buy more U.S. goods despite tariffs.

Friday’s statement not only indicated that trade negotiations would continue, but they would be enforced.

Michelle Moons is a White House Correspondent for Breitbart News — follow on Twitter @MichelleDiana and Facebook.