Warner Home Video has inked an agreement with Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation to distribute their upcoming DVDs in mainland China.

DreamWorks and Paramount's Transformers and DreamWorks Animation's Shrek The Third will be the first two titles distributed under the new partnerships.

Transformers hit the shelves on November 1 while Shrek The Third is set for a November 28 release.

The Mandarin-dubbed DVDs will be distributed by CAV Warner Home Entertainment, a joint venture between Warner Home Video and Shanghai-based China Audio Video, which has relationships with around 20,000 outlets in 50 cities.

In addition to Warner Bros titles, CAV Warner also has an agreement to distribute titles from Universal Pictures International. Meanwhile Twentieth Century Fox has an exclusive DVD licensing partnership with Guangzhou-based video distributor Zoke Culture Group.

By offering competitively priced DVDs, the studios hope to fight rampant piracy in China, where unauthorised copies of new titles are often available just a few days after their US release. CAV Warner has also been experimenting with early release windows.

'The addition of two major Hollywood studios' product in China - Paramount and DreamWorks Animation - further strengthens our efforts in building a legitimate video business in China,' said Warner Home Video's Mark Horak.

'By providing a wide selection of high quality, competitively priced DVDs, we will be offering consumers a more attractive alternative to lower quality, pirated product.'

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