China Hushen 300 index futures open lower Thursday

China's key Hushen 300 index futures opened lower on Thursday, with the contract for settlement in August, the most actively traded, down 1.22 percent at 3,731.2 points.

The contract for settlement in September opened 1.43 percent lower at 3,635. The December contract opened 0.6 percent lower at 3,550. The March 2016 contract opened 1.1 percent lower at 3,516.

The stock-index contracts, agreements to buy or sell the Hushen 300 Index at a present value on an agreed date, are designed to allow investors to bet on and profit from either gains or declines in the market.

The index futures were launched at the China Financial Futures Exchange and started trading from April 16, 2010. The CFFEX has set the base value for all the four contracts at 3,399 points.

The Hushen 300 Index samples about a fifth of the total stocks listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses.