Nintendo has announced that three January raids in south China netted 300,000 counterfeit games, spotlighting the ongoing war by western firms against piracy in China.

The games were seized at three factories in Guangdong province -- a hotbed of pirating activity in China for high- and low-tech products alike, experts said.

The estimated amount that counterfeiting has cost Nintendo and its licenses is about US$649 million in 2002.

Nintendo's recent actions are just part of the ongoing war against piracy in China, where violations include everything from the illegal copying of CDs and DVDs to the manufacturing of counterfeit watches and handbags.

China has agreed to help take on the problem, and gets generally high marks from foreign firms for its anti-piracy laws. But experts say that enforcement of those laws is sometimes spotty -- especially at the local level.