China's treasury bond futures closed higher on Tuesday, with the contract for settlement in December 2017 closing flat at 97.63 yuan (about 14.74 U.S. dollars).

The March 2018 contract closed 0.03 percent higher at 97.81 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.