BEIJING, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- China's treasury bond futures closed lower on Thursday, with the contract for September 2018 closing 0.20 percent lower at 97.65 yuan (about 14.36 U.S. dollars).

The contract for settlement in December 2018 closed 0.23 percent lower at 97.67 yuan. The contract for settlement in March 2019 closed 0.33 percent lower at 97.62 yuan.

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

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

(This article is generated by Xinhua News Robot.)