A Chinese company is likely to be among the top candidates to cooperate with Serbia, as the Balkan country plans to build a landmark navigable canal, a senior Serbian official said on Saturday.

Analysts said that if it materializes, the move would be an important breakthrough in infrastructure cooperation between China and Europe, especially as several previous ventures have been aborted by a number of countries.

Of the potential candidates, Chinese businesses have voiced the most interest in the waterway and have "provided a great deal of unconditional support", said Milan Bacevic, Serbia's minister of Natural Resources, Mining and Spatial Planning.