After weeks of escalating diplomatic tension over Japan’s detention of a Chinese fishing captain, China on Tuesday called on Tokyo to cooperate in resolving the messy dispute involving territorial sovereignty, compensation for damaged boats and such intangibles as wounded national pride.

“China highly values China-Japan relations,” Jiang Yu, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said during a regular news conference. “But safeguarding bilateral relations requires that the two sides meet halfway and requires Japan to take candid and practical actions.”

The comments were less strident than previous admonishments and threats by Chinese officials, including a warning of “full consequences” by the normally taciturn premier, Wen Jiabao, should Japan fail to acquiesce to their demands.

The latest comments came hours after the Japanese foreign minister insisted that there was nothing to discuss regarding sovereignty over the string of islands in the East China Sea that both sides claim.

“No territorial issue exists,” the foreign minister, Seiji Maehara, told Parliament, the Kyodo News Agency reported Tuesday.

China has made its displeasure known beyond its verbal sparring by halting top-level political contacts, canceling tour groups, and stopping the shipment of minerals crucial to Japanese automakers and other manufacturers, although the Chinese commerce minister has denied the existence of an export ban.

The imbroglio has been raging since Sept. 8, when Japanese sailors arrested the captain of a Chinese trawler during a confrontation that may or may not have involved the captain intentionally ramming his ship into two Japanese Coast Guard patrol vessels. Known as the Diaoyu to the Chinese and Senkaku to the Japanese, the uninhabited islets northeast of Taiwan are claimed by both countries and Taiwan but are administered by Japan.

After angry protests by the Chinese government — and a modest rally in front of the Japanese Embassy in Beijing — prosecutors released the captain on Friday, a move that was widely interpreted as a diplomatic victory for China and an affirmation of its growing economic might.

But the release, apparently, was not enough to soothe China’s fury. Hours later, Beijing demanded an apology and compensation for the fisherman’s damaged ship as the state-run media celebrated the return of the captain, Zhan Qixiong. (After savoring an official celebration with fireworks and pounding drums, Mr. Zhan, 41, promptly vowed to return to the disputed waters.)

Prime Minister Naoto Kan of Japan, feeling the heat for his perceived bow to a longtime rival, has since rejected Chinese demands for money and an apology. For good measure, the Japanese chief cabinet secretary is asking China to pay for repairs to the damaged coast guard vessels.

“Naturally, we will be asking for the boats to be returned to their original condition,” he said earlier in the week.

It has not helped the diplomatic efforts that China continues to hold four Japanese citizens who were arrested last Friday after being accused of videotaping at a military installation not far from Beijing.

On Tuesday, Japan’s economics minister warned that the ban on rare-earth mineral exports could pose a significant threat to the Japanese economy.

“We need to restore Japan-China ties, especially economic exchanges, as soon as possible,” Banri Kaieda, the minister of economic and fiscal policy, said at a news conference, The Associated Press reported.

Wei Zhijiang, an expert on Sino-Japanese relations at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, said that while the Foreign Ministry’s latest comments could be viewed as an olive branch, he doubted that the Chinese side would be able to say much more, given how emotional the issue is in China — where anti-Japanese sentiment is always just beneath the surface — and the approach of the holiday on Friday commemorating the founding of the People’s Republic of China.