MANILA, Philippines — China-ASEAN Investment Cooperation Fund, a private equity firm backed by the Export-Import Bank of China, plans to invest $500 million in Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) next year, said associate director Ryan Chung.

The firm raised about $1 billion for its first fund in April 2010 and has already invested $400 million of that money in four companies in the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. The investments range from a container terminal to a potash miner, Chung said in an interview.

China’s Premier Wen Jiabao last month urged the development of free trade zones between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and said China is seeking to increase the scale of currency swaps with the region.

China is ASEAN’s biggest trading partner, accounting for 11.6 percent of all commerce, compared with 9.7 percent for the US in 2009, according to the latest available data from the association.

“China has been making investments in Southeast Asia and will soon list these portfolio companies on overseas bourses such as Hong Kong and Singapore as they grow bigger,” Chung said. “They’re seeking to leverage on these overseas platforms to tap the capital markets to fund their international expansion.”

The China-ASEAN fund, which counts China Investment Corp. and International Finance Corp. as investors, may seek to raise $2 billion to $3 billion in the second half of 2012 after it deploys a majority of the capital collected in the first fund, Chung said.

The China-ASEAN fund in 2009 became the first Southeast Asia-focused private equity fund approved by China’s State Council. It mainly invests in infrastructure, energy and natural resources. The company has a target for assets under management of more than $10 billion, Chung said.

China is setting up a maritime cooperation fund worth 3 billion yuan ($637 million) with Asean, Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin told reporters at a briefing on Nov. 19. China is also seeking a trade agreement with Asean that includes South Korea and Japan, he said.