BEIJING, March 20 (Xinhua) -- China's treasury bond futures closed higher on Tuesday, with the contract for June 2018 closing 0.17 percent higher at 96.68 yuan (about 15.3 U.S. dollars).

The contract for settlement in September 2018 closed 0.18 percent higher at 96.72 yuan. The contract for settlement in December 2018 closed 0.31 percent higher at 96.87 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.