China stock index futures open higher Thursday

China's stock index futures opened higher on Thursday, with the contract for settlement in February 2014, the most actively traded, up 4.8 points to open at 2,255.

The contract for settlement in March 2014 opened 8 points higher at 2,265. The June 2014 contract opened 4.8 points higher at 2,271.2, and the September 2014 contract gained 5.4 points to open at 2,274.6.

The stock-index contracts, agreements to buy or sell the Hushen 300 Index at a present value on an agreed date, are designed to allow investors to bet on and profit from either gains or declines in the market.

The index futures were launched at the China Financial Futures Exchange (CFFEX) and started trading from April 16, 2010. The CFFEX has set the base value for all the four contracts at 3,399 points.