China may be a trade powerhouse but curiously it has not been very adept at ironing out free-trade accords with its trade partners.

In fact, it’s only got a few.

Its big one is with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which began to trigger tariff reductions in 2005. The two sides have reached a consensus on service industries and still are discussing mutual investment issues.

China’s free-trade agreement with Chile went into effect on Oct. 1.

It also has a pending free-trade agreement with Pakistan, which will go into effect next July 1.

China is also deep into discussions with both Australia and New Zealand on trade pacts, and has embarked on feasibility studies about trade agreements with India and South Korea. There’s also been some footsie with the Gulf Cooperation Council and individual African countries about future trade pacts.

Beyond that, there isn’t much. Maybe it doesn’t matter because China’s trade prowess is on display anytime one looks at its global trade numbers.

But now that world trade negotiations (known as the Doha round) have hit a deadlock, interest in smaller free-trade agreements is rising. And China’s trade negotiators are probably going to need to hone their skills.