Warner Home Video has begun trial sales in China of a movie DVD priced at just 12 yuan (€1.20), a move likely to anger consumers in Europe and the US, who pay $20-$30 (€16-€24) for a recently released film on DVD.

The test sales of the modestly packaged edition of the The Aviator mark one of the boldest efforts yet by an international film company - WHV's Chinese joint venture, CAV Warner - to adjust its marketing strategies to the potentially huge but piracy-plagued Chinese DVD market.

The "simple pack" edition of the film, which comes in a cardboard folder rather than the standard DVD plastic box, went on sale earlier this month in selected Chinese cities,said Christine Hu of CAV Warner.

"This is a first step to see if the consumer can accept this product at this price," Ms Hu said, adding that it was too early to judge the results of the experiment.

Hollywood studios have struggled to establish significant businesses in China because of tight government controls on the number of foreign films approved for release and rampant piracy in the DVD market.

Pirate producers have long benefited from loose enforcement of intellectual property laws in China and from state censorship that complicates DVD imports.

However, local distributors say the best way to combat the pirates would be for international companies to cut the time lag between the release of their films at the cinema and on DVD and the gulf in prices between legitimate products and pirated discs.

Pirate DVDs can be bought for about six yuan.