BEIJING, June 16 -- China's five-year treasury bond futures opened flat on Tuesday, with contracts for settlement in September and December 2015 and March of 2016 opening unchanged.

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 and started trading on Sept. 6, 2013.