BEIJING, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- China's five-year treasury bond futures opened lower on Tuesday, with the contract for settlement in September 2016 opening 0.020 percent lower at 101.945 yuan (about 15.3 U.S. dollars).

The contract for settlement in December 2016 opened 0.020 percent lower at 101.570 yuan. The contract for settlement in March 2017 opened 0.015 percent lower at 101.265 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.