BEIJING, July 28 (Xinhua) -- China's treasury bond futures closed higher on Thursday, with the contract for settlement in September 2016 closing 0.13 percent higher at 101.525 yuan (about 15.24 U.S. dollars).

The December 2016 contract closed 0.14 percent higher at 101.135 yuan. The March 2017 contract closed 0.16 percent higher at 100.83 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.