BELGRADE, Jan 26 (Reuters) - China has agreed to invest 2 billion euros ($2.18 billion) in Serbia to build wind and solar power plants and a hydrogen production facility, the biggest investment in renewable energy in the Balkan country to date, Serbia's mining and energy ministry said in a statement.

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the ministry and China's Shanghai Fengling Renewable Co Ltd and Serbia Zijin Copper, a local subsidiary of Zijin Mining, was signed on Friday.

The MOU envisions the construction of a 1,500 megawatt (MW) wind farm, a 500 MW solar plant and a hydrogen plant with an annual capacity of about 30,000 metric tons by 2028, the statement said, with Shanghai Fengling Renewable as the principal investor.

The energy produced would be used in the Zijin-owned copper mine and smelter near the town of Bor in eastern Serbia.

"This project will enable Zijin to produce a significant part of (its) electricity needs in a sustainable way," the statement quoted Serbia's mining and energy minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic as saying.

"This investment will help us achieve energy security and independence goals and...reach carbon neutrality by 2050."

Zijin Mining became Serbia's strategic partner in the RTB Bor copper miner in 2018, pledging to invest $1.26 billion in return for a 63% stake and later opening the Cukaru Peki underground copper and gold mine in 2021.

China has invested billions of euros in European Union candidate country Serbia, mostly in the form of soft loans for infrastructure and energy projects, as part of its belt and road initiative to open foreign trade links.

To bolster economic growth and revenue, the Serbian government has offered mineral resources to foreign investors including Zijin and Rio Tinto. ($1 = 0.9195 euros) (Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)