"As a foreign minister, to so irresponsibly incite such groundless rhetoric about a China threat, what is the purpose?" foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said at a regular briefing.

Qin insisted China's increasing economic might was no threat to anyone and had actually benefited Japan.

"China insists on a path of peaceful development. China's development has made commonly acknowledged contributions towards the world's peace and stability, bringing East Asian countries, including Japan, great development opportunities," he said.

Qin was responding to remarks by Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Aso as quoted by Jiji Press earlier Thursday.

"It is a neighboring country that has nuclear bombs. Its military spending is posting two-digit growth and the content of that is not transparent," Aso said in the latest rift between the neighbors.

"I think it is becoming a considerable threat," he said.

The latest dispute comes just two months after Aso, an outspoken hawk, was appointed in late October.

Relations between China and Japan have been badly strained of late, with Beijing angry over Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to a Tokyo shrine that commemorates war criminals among the other war dead.

Anger at Koizumi's action triggered the cancellation of a trilateral meeting between leaders of China, Japan and South Korea on the sidelines of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Kuala Lumpur this month.

Asked by reporters whether there is likely to be a meeting between Japan and China's foreign ministers any time soon, Qin indicated it was unlikely and blamed Japan for the impasse.

"Relations between China and Japan is in a grave situation, but...the responsibility is not with China," he said.

"China believes that China and Japan should bolster dialogues, exchanges and cooperations. But in order to have these exchanges to take place, we need to have the appropriate atmosphere and conditions."

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