BEIJING, March 18 (Xinhua) -- China's 10-year treasury bond futures opened mixed on Thursday, with the contract for settlement in June 2021 opening flat at 96.91 yuan (about 14.94 U.S. dollars).

The contract for settlement in September 2021 opened 0.01 percent higher at 96.66 yuan. The contract for settlement in December 2021 had no trading at opening.

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.