The center is Britain's first independent research platform for the landmark Chinese initiative.

David De Cremer, co-founder of the center and professor with Cambridge's Judge Business School, told a symposium marking the establishment of the center that the Belt and Road initiative has posed challenges to China's global leadership, which is worth of in-depth studies.

"Whether you like or not, China stands out now to show global leadership," Cremer said, adding that the Chinese initiative is not a one-man band, it is already a symposium played by all countries on board.

Proposed in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative is aimed at developing trade routes running through the continents of Asia, Europe and Africa, connecting the vibrant East Asia economic circle at one end and developed European economic circle at the other.

Zhang Xiangcheng, the other co-founder of the center and the Royal Society Industry Fellow at the University of Cambridge, said that the center will be committed to studies of the challenges and problems related to the Belt and Road initiative and providing solutions.