China on Thursday rejected comments by a Japanese official who warned that the country's rapid economic growth could fuel a surge in nationalism.

The comments by Tomohiko Taniguchi, deputy press secretary of the Japanese foreign ministry, came even though the countries have enjoyed a warming of relations this year.

"We are surprised and dissatisfied with the Japanese comment. The thinking that Chinese economic development leads to nationalism is not logical and should not be a reason to be against China," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"We hope the Japanese side can move closer to the Chinese side and do more things which will improve public sentiments in the two countries, not the contrary," it said.

Wartime issues still define relations between China and Japan. Ties have also been frayed by disputes over exploitation of underwater gas and oil deposits, but a visit by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to Japan in April helped ease differences.

But the comments by Taniguchi at a new conference in Hong Kong show the uneasiness remains.

"The more rapid the growth is, the more dangerous I think it is going to be for nationalism to play a role or change the course of the ... nation," he said.

"I would call on the Beijing government to well manage the equilibrium of the Chinese psyche, because the Chinese people are experiencing the most rapid ... change in their 2,000-year history," Taniguchi said.

China and Japan have feuded over the extent of Japanese brutality during its occupation of China during the World War II era.

Among the Japanese atrocities that have flared Sino-Japanese relations,the Japanese army slaughtered 300,000 civilians and raped tens of thousands of women in Nanjing in 1937.

Historians also say as many as 200,000 women, mainly from Korea, China and the Philippines, worked in Japanese military brothels in the 1930s and '40s. Many victims say they were forced to work as sex slaves by military authorities and were held against their will.