BEIJING, July 2 -- China's treasury bond futures closed lower on Thursday, with the contract for settlement in September 2015 down 0.06 percent to finish at 95.7 yuan (around 15.64 U.S. dollars).

The contract for settlement in December lost 0.14 percent to end at 97.6 yuan. The March 2016 contract also lost 0.09 percent to 98.1 yuan.

The contracts are agreements to buy or sell treasury bonds at a predetermined price and 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.