BEIJING, March 21 (Xinhua) -- China's five-year treasury bond futures opened higher on Thursday, with the contract for settlement in June 2019 opening 0.06 percent higher at 99.34 yuan (about 14.86 U.S. dollars).

The contracts for settlement in September and December 2019 had no tradings 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 Sept. 6, 2013.