China treasury bond futures open lower Thursday

China's treasury bond futures opened lower on Thursday, with contract for settlement in June 2014 opening lower at 92.556 yuan (15.17 U.S. dollars).

The contracts for settlement in September opened lower at 93.01 yuan.

The contracts are agreements to buy or sell treasury bonds at a predetermined price and set date. They allow investors to bet on or profit from the movements in the value of the bonds.

The treasury bond futures were launched at the Shanghai-based China Financial Futures Exchange (CFFEX) and started trading on Sept. 6, 2013.