The move came after Beijing complained over comments by Jack Cafferty, who blasted China for exporting unsafe products, which he called "junk with lead paint" on it.

"On behalf of CNN, I'd like to apologize to the Chinese people for that," Jim Walton, head of CNN, wrote to China's ambassador to the U.S., Xinhua news agency quoted foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang as saying.

"CNN has the highest respect for Chinese people around the world and we have no doubt that there was genuine offense felt by them over the Jack Cafferty commentary," the letter said, according to Qin.

A spokesman for CNN confirmed a letter had been sent, but did not divulge its contents, saying only that it reiterated "what we have said publicly in the past."

During an April 9 broadcast, Cafferty also hit out at massive Chinese purchases of U.S. Treasuries and said of China: "I think they're basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they've been for the last 50 years."

His comments caused outrage among the Chinese, and China demanded an apology for what it called "vile" remarks.

They also fuelled anti-CNN sentiment in China, where Internet blogs circulated accusations that the network had an anti-Chinese bias in its coverage of unrest in Tibet.

CNN subsequently issued a statement saying it was not Cafferty's intention to offend the Chinese people, adding the opinionated commentator had directed his comments at the government, not the people.

"It should be noted that over many years, Jack Cafferty has expressed critical comments on many governments, including the U.S. government and its leaders," CNN said in April.

But China rejected this explanation, and demanded an official apology.

"We hope CNN and Cafferty will learn lessons from this and safeguard their professional reputation to avoid such things from re-occurring," Qin said, according to Xinhua.