A top Chinese Christian pastor who has been accused of rape has resigned from his ministry in order to "retreat in the Lord and seek renewal."

Rev Yuan Zhiming, a script writer for the popular television series River Elegy and founder of China Soul for Christ Foundation, posted on his blog in Chinese that he "flatly" denies rape but admits he is a "depraved sinner" who indulged in extra-marital sex.

He wrote: "For the extramarital sexual iniquity that I once committed in 1990 before I became a born-again Christian, I once again confess my sins to God and seek his forgiveness, and offer my apologies to the party involved in that relationship."

Zhiming "temporarily" resigned after Chai Ling, founder of All Girls Allowed, said the pastor raped her in 1990 and that it was not simply a matter of extramarital sexual sin.

All Girls Allowed is a Christian movement that campaigns against China's one-child policy and other injustices against women.

Of more than 40 million Chinese people who live outside China, nearly one tenth are in the United States. Zhiming and Ling were both deeply involved in the Tiananmen Square protests which led to the massacre in 1989 that shocked the world. They converted to Christianity after fleeing to the US. They are possibly the best known Christian leaders of China's ex-pat communities. Ling has twice been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her leadership at Tiananmen Square.

Zhiming wrote: "To God and to the public, although I could quietly endure the false accusations, I could not and would not admit those sins which I have not committed. I deny all of the defamatory accusations involving 'rape,' 'attempted seduction' and 'sexual assault.'"

All Girls Allowed said in a written statement: "It takes great courage and strength for victims of sexual assault to go public so they deserve to be respected, heard, trusted, and honored, rather than being harassed and intimidated."