China treasury bond futures open higher Wednesday

China's treasury bond futures opened higher on Wednesday, with the contract for settlement in December, the most actively traded, opening 0.146 yuan higher at 91.846 yuan (14.98 U.S. dollars). The contract for settlement in March 2014 rose 0.036 yuan to open at 92.302 yuan, while the contract for settlement in June 2014 climbed 0.076 yuan to open at 92.746 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.

The CFFEX set the base value for the December 2013 contract at 94.168 yuan, the March 2014 contract at 94.188 yuan and the June 2014 contract at 94.218 yuan.