China treasury bond futures open higher Thursday

China's treasury bond futures opened higher on Thursday, with contract for settlement in March 2015 opening 0.01 percent higher at 96.586 yuan (15.77 U.S. dollars).

The contract for settlement in June 2015 opened 0.40 percent higher at 97.500 yuan. The contract for settlement in September 2015 had no trading at the opening.

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.