China's stock index futures closed down Wednesday with the contract for January 2011, the most actively traded, down 1.46 percent from the previous trading day to end at 3,243.6 points.

The February 2011 contract fell 1.39 percent to close at 3,279.8 points. The March 2011 contract lost 1.53 percent to 3,310 points and the June 2011 contract was down 1.33 percent to 3,392 points.

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

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