China's treasury bond futures closed higher on Thursday, with the contract for settlement in September 2017 closing 0.04 percent higher at 97.21 yuan (about 14.89 U.S. dollars).

The December 2017 contract closed 0.18 percent higher at 97.64 yuan. The contract for settlement in March 2018 closed 0.13 percent higher at 97.69 yuan.

The contracts are agreements to buy or sell treasury bonds at a predetermined price and 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.