Thomas Debrowski, executive vice president of Mattel's global operations, apologized personally to Li Changjiang, a senior Chinese official, Xinhua reported.

"Mattel takes full responsibility for those recalls and I would like to apologize personally to you, the Chinese people and all of the customers who received toys that have been manufactured," Debrowski told the head of China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine in Beijing.

Debrowski admitted it was design flaws, rather than manufacturing problems in China, that caused the vast majority of its recalls this summer, with 17.4 million items called back because of loose magnets and 2.2 million because of toxic lead paint.

"Mattel does not require Chinese manufacturers to be responsible for the magnets-related recalls due to design problems," the company said in a news release.

The company also said its lead-related recalls were "overly inclusive."