I've never seen anything like this.

U.S.-based toy giant Mattel Inc. issued an extraordinary apology to China on Friday over the recall of Chinese-made toys, taking the blame for design flaws and saying it had recalled more lead-tainted toys than justified.

The gesture by Thomas A. Debrowski, Mattel's executive vice president for worldwide operations, came in a meeting with Chinese product safety chief Li Changjiang, at which Li upbraided the company for maintaining weak safety controls.

"Our reputation has been damaged lately by these recalls," Debrowski told Li in a meeting at Li's office at which reporters were allowed to be present.

"And Mattel takes full responsibility for these recalls and apologizes personally to you, the Chinese people, and all of our customers who received the toys," Debrowski said.

The carefully worded apology, delivered with company lawyers present, underscores China's central role in Mattel's business. The world's largest toy maker has been in China for 25 years and about 65 percent of its products are made in China.

The fence-mending call came ahead of an expected visit to China by Mattel's chairman and chief executive, Robert A. Eckert. Following the massive recall, Eckert told U.S. lawmakers he wanted to see Mattel's mainland inspections first hand.

Mattel seems more worried about having offended Chinese politicians than about having offended people potentially harmed by its products. Can you imagine Mattel or anybody else apologizing to the United States for recalling defective products made here? It reminds me of the non-apology apology made by Washington six years ago after an American spy plane made an emergency landing in Chinese territory. A Chinese fighter had flown too close and bumped into the Americans outside Chinese airspace, and China demanded an expression of regret before releasing the U.S. crew. I wonder how much the U.S. State Department was involved in the Mattel business.