Chicago Board of Trade soyabean futures closed lower on Thursday on doubts about whether China will make the purchases from the United States promised in a trade deal between the two countries, analysts said.

CBOT March soyabean futures settled down 4-3/4 cents at $9.24 per bushel after touching $9.22, the contract's lowest since Dec. 13.

CBOT March soyaoil ended down 0.27 cent at 33.03 cents per pound while March soyameal closed higher, up 50 cents at $300.60 per short ton.

In the trade pact signed on Wednesday, China committed to increase purchases of US farm products by $32 billion over two years, including $12.5 billion above the corresponding 2017 baseline of $24 billion in 2020 and $19.5 billion above the baseline in 2021.

However, China's pledge to buy US agricultural goods based on "market conditions" added to doubts about the size of any future purchases.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported export sales of US soyabeans in the week ended Jan. 9 at 711,400 tonnes, in line with trade expectations.

The USDA reported weekly soyameal export sales at 375,200 tonnes and soyaoil sales at 36,100 tonnes, both above expectations.

Through its daily reporting system, the USDA said private exporters sold 180,000 tonnes of US soyameal to the Philippines.