China's carbon market that starts trading in June is more likely to resemble a marathon with long-term goals rather than a 100-meter dash focused on immediate heavy-handed regulations to curb emissions, according to experts who have helped designed the system.

This is in line with the trajectory of how nationwide emissions trading systems have evolved in other countries, where carbon trading has taken years to develop, and particularly relevant in the case of China where economic growth is being prioritized and several other factors need to fall in place for a carbon market to be successful.

A measured start means that China's carbon prices will initially be low as emissions allowances granted to companies in the power sector, the first industry to come under the carbon market, will be generous and market participants will get time to build emissions measurement and mitigation mechanisms.

That is not to say that China's nationwide carbon emission trading scheme, or ETS, could be any less impactful in the longer term—its designers envisage a noose that tightens slowly as emissions allowances shrink and mitigation costs increase covering more sectors of the economy.

Guest post from S&P Global