(Reuters) – China is still open to agreeing a partial trade deal with the United States, Bloomberg reported bloom.bg/35jYuzH on Wednesday, citing an official with direct knowledge of the talks, despite the recent blacklisting of Chinese technology firms.

The U.S. government widened its trade blacklist to include some of China’s top artificial intelligence startups, punishing Beijing for its treatment of Muslim minorities and ratcheting up tensions ahead of high-level trade talks in Washington this week.

Negotiators heading to Washington for talks are not optimistic about securing a broad agreement that would end the trade war between the two countries, Bloomberg reported.