BEIJING, April 17 (Xinhua) -- China's 10-year treasury bond futures closed higher on Wednesday, with the contract for June 2019 closing 0.31 percent higher at 96.42 yuan ($14.39).

Illustration: VCG

The contract for settlement in September 2019 closed 0.31 percent higher at 96.02 yuan. The contract for settlement in December 2019 closed 0.33 higher at 95.82 yuan.

The contracts are agreements to buy or sell treasury bonds at a predetermined price on a 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 Aug. 17, 2018.