The BBC’s former China editor Carrie Gracie has won her battle over gender pay inequality, receiving an apology and a payout from the corporation, which she will donate to charity.

Gracie, one of the most senior journalists at the BBC, resigned from her post in January, accusing the BBC of a “secretive and illegal” pay culture.

On Friday the BBC apologised for underpaying Gracie and acknowledged the “specific circumstances” relating to her appointment, which it said it had “now put right”. In a joint statement, the two sides said: “The BBC and Carrie Gracie have reached an agreement to resolve their differences.”

The BBC admitted Gracie had been told she would be paid in line with the north America editor, Jon Sopel, whose salary is in the £200,000-£250,000 range, but after she accepted the role her pay turned out to be £135,000. Jeremy Bowen, the BBC’s Middle East editor, is paid between £150,000 and £199,999.

Gracie has said she would donate all the back pay the BBC has awarded her to the Fawcett Society, a charity that campaigns for gender equality, to set up a fund for women who need legal advice on equal pay claims and to support its strategic legal work.

“For me, this was always about the principle, rather than the money,” she said. “I’m delighted to donate all the backdated pay from the BBC to help women striving for equality at work. I am glad to be able to resolve this with the director general – it shows we can make progress. I’m also pleased that my work as China editor has now been properly recognised by the BBC and relieved that this difficult period is over.”

The dispute with Gracie has been highly damaging for the BBC, as it attempts to address pay inequality and transparency issues with dozens of high-profile stars, including Victoria Derbyshire, Mariella Frostrup, Naga Munchetty and Samira Ahmed, who are campaigning for action.

“The BBC is committed to the principle of equal pay in accordance with our values,” the corporation said. “The BBC acknowledges the specific circumstances relating to Carrie’s appointment, apologises for underpaying Carrie, and has now put this right.”

The director general, Tony Hall, said: “I am pleased that we’ve been able to move past our differences and work through things together; we can now look to the future.”

Hall said Gracie would contribute to a BBC project, led by Donalda MacKinnon, to “make the BBC a great place for women to work”.

As part of her fight for equal pay, Gracie wrote an open letter to licence fee payers criticising the broadcaster for the gender pay gap and its efforts to eradicate it.

After Gracie’s resignation in January, some of the BBC’s best-paid male presenters – including John Humphrys, Jeremy Vine, Huw Edwards, Nick Robinson and Sopel – agreed to take salary cuts.

The BBC said Gracie would now, at her own request, take up to six months of unpaid leave to write and speak about China and gender equality. “Neither she nor the BBC wish to comment on this further,” it added.

Gracie has worked at the corporation for 30 years. She is widely regarded as one of the BBC’s most talented journalists.

The gender pay row at the BBC erupted last summer when it published a list of its top-earning on-air stars, which revealed that just a third were women and the top seven were all men. This led to more than 40 of its highest-profile female presenters, including Clare Balding, Fiona Bruce and Emily Maitlis, publishing a letter to Hall.