Sino-Forest Strengthens Board of Directors; Appoints Garry West and James Bowland

TORONTO, Feb. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ – Sino-Forest Corporation (TSX: TRE), a leading
commercial forest plantation operator in China, announced today the
appointment of Garry J. West and James P. Bowland to its Board of
Directors.

“We are very pleased to welcome Garry and Jamie to our Board as
Directors,” said Allen Chan, Chairman and CEO of Sino-Forest
Corporation. “With Sino-Forest growing so rapidly, both operationally
and financially, it is important for us to continue increasing our
corporate oversight by independent Directors. Garry and Jamie bring to
us a wealth of knowledge in accounting and capital market transactions.
During their careers, they have both gained extensive experience in
advising executive management and Boards of publicly listed
companies.” 

Mr. Garry West was Partner at Ernst & Young and during his 35 years
career gained extensive financial experience including auditing,
corporate restructuring, public financings and strategic planning
initiatives for a number of major organizations in the technology,
communications, manufacturing and service sectors. He is a Fellow of
the Ontario Institute Chartered Accountants and serves as a Director
and Chair of the Audit Committee for two other TSX-listed companies.

Mr. James (Jamie) Bowland is also a Chartered Accountant with 35 years
of executive-level business experience in the financial sector. Jamie’s
career includes 15 years as Managing Director, Investment & Corporate
Banking at BMO Capital Markets where he acted as a senior advisor on
several large-scale mergers & acquisitions, and developed significant
experience in the equity, debt and corporate banking markets. He serves
on the Board of a number of TSX-listed companies and not-for-profit
organizations.  Jamie holds the Institute of Corporate Directors
designation.

“We look forward to integrating the valuable perspectives of Garry and
Jamie into our goal setting, investment decision-making and corporate
governance as we move ahead with executing our long-term growth
strategy and achieving our vision,” added Allen Chan.

About Sino-Forest Corporation

Sino-Forest Corporation is a leading commercial forest plantation
operator in China. Its principal businesses include the ownership and
management of forest plantation trees, the sale of standing timber and
wood logs, and the complementary manufacturing of downstream
engineered-wood products. Sino-Forest also holds a majority interest in
Greenheart Group Limited (previously Omnicorp Limited), a Hong
Kong-based company (HKSE: 00094) involved in log harvesting, lumber
processing, and marketing and sales of logs and lumber products to
China and other countries. The Company’s common shares have traded on
the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol TRE since 1995. Learn more
at www.sinoforest.com.

SOURCE Sino-Forest Corporation