CANNES, France - Chinese Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao on Wednesday said the planned Greek referendum on the EU's recent bailout package came "unexpectedly", but China would respect the independent decision taken by Greece.

"China hopes that the uncertainty may be reduced as much aspossible, so as to help stabilize the market and restore investors'confidence," Zhu said on Wednesday night at a press briefing, on the eve of the G20 summit slated for Thursday and Friday.

Under the French presidency, this year's G20 summit is held in the now fully fortified resort city of Cannes in southern France.

The summit is widely expected to be dominated by the eurozone's sovereign debt crisis, especially after Greece's Prime Minister George Papandreou earlier this week surprisingly decided to put the EU's latest hard-won bailout package to a referendum.