China's treasury bond futures closed lower on Thursday, with the contract for settlement in September 2017 closing 0.08 percent lower at 98.09 yuan (about 14.4 U.S. dollars).

The December 2017 contract closed 0.09 percent lower at 98.085 yuan. The March 2018 contract closed 0.01 percent lower at 98.055 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.