China's treasury bond futures closed lower on Tuesday, with the contract for settlement in September 2017 closing 0.14 percent lower at 97.665 yuan (14.45 U.S. dollars).

The December 2017 contract closed 0.13 percent lower at 97.945 yuan. The March 2018 contract closed 0.33 percent lower at 97.895 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.