Pirate in America, go to jail. Pirate in China, get a sweet deal.

The MPA says film piracy in China is believed to have cost American studios US$244 million and Chinese studios US$2.4 billion in lost potential box office revenues in China in 2005, the last year for which the group has released figures.

Beijing has increased penalties for product piracy and stepped up enforcement under foreign pressure. But the MPA and other industry groups say piracy is growing faster than enforcement, driven by China's explosive economic growth.

Foreign studios have won a handful of lawsuits against Chinese stores that sell pirated movies. But the awards are only a few thousand dollars (euros), and the MPA says the judgments are too small amid the huge scale of violations.

"We are conscious of the high rate of piracy and we will be working with our partners and the relevant authorities to address this issue," Maguire said