BEIJING, July 23 (Xinhua) -- China's treasury bond futures closed lower on Wednesday, with the contract for settlement in September down 0.134 yuan to close at 92.940 yuan (15.09 U.S. dollars).

The contract for settlement in December fell 0.140 yuan to close at 93.362 yuan. The contract for settlement in March 2015 edged down 0.140 yuan to end at 93.742 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.