BEIJING, April 27 (Xinhua) -- China's treasury bond futures closed lower on Friday, with the contract for June 2018 closing 0.19 percent lower at 97.69 yuan (15.4 U.S. dollars).

The contract for settlement in September 2018 closed 0.14 percent higher at 97.64 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 Sept. 6, 2013.