BEIJING, Jan. 17-- China's treasury bond futures opened lower on Friday, with contract for settlement in March 2014, the most actively traded, down 0.076 yuan at 91.606 yuan (15.02 U.S. dollars).

The contract for settlement in June 2014 lost 0.046 yuan to open at 92.206 yuan. The contract for settlement in September 2014 shrank 0.05 yuan to open at 92.456.

The contracts are agreements to buy or sell treasury bonds at a predetermined price and set date. They allow investors to bet on or profit from the movements in the value of the bonds.

The treasury bond futures were launched at the Shanghai-based China Financial Futures Exchange (CFFEX) and started trading on Sept. 6, 2013.

The CFFEX set the base value for the December 2013 contract at 94.168 yuan, the March 2014 contract at 94.188 yuan and the June 2014 contract at 94.218 yuan.