BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- China's ten-year treasury bond futures opened mixed on Thursday, with the contract for settlement in June 2019 opening at 96.44 yuan ($14.35), down 0.12 percent lower.

File photo: VCG

The contract for settlement in September 2019 opened at 96.18 yuan, unchanged from previous trading day's close. The contract for settlement in December 2019 opened 0.12 percent higher at 96.05 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 March 20, 2015. Meanwhile, China's five-year treasury bond futures opened mixed, with the contract for settlement in June 2019 opening 0.28 percent lower at 98.51 yuan. 

China's 2-year treasury bond futures opened lower on Monday, with the contract for June 2019 opening at 100.03 yuan, down 0.03 percent.