Sino-Forest Corporation Appoints BDO as Auditor.

TORONTO -- Sino-Forest Corporation (TSX:TRE), the largest private commercial plantation operator in China, today announced that it has appointed BDO McCabe Lo & Co. - an affiliate of BDO Dunwoody LLP and member of BDO International - as the new auditor for the Company. This decision followed a comprehensive analysis of the evolving audit environment regarding Canadian public companies whose primary business assets and operations reside in foreign jurisdictions.

The retention of BDO followed a request for proposal process led by the Company's audit committee. Ernst & Young Canada ("EYC"), the Company's previous auditor, will be working with BDO to ensure a smooth transition of the audit engagement. EYC has issued an audit report on the consolidated financial statements of the Company for the year ended December 31, 2004. There has been no discovery of any accounting or other irregularities which prompted the change of auditors.

"We are looking forward to leveraging the resources of BDO's international network to provide our shareholders with the highest level of audit-related services," said Allan Chan, Chairman and CEO of Sino-Forest. "BDO will provide local resources in both China and Hong Kong, as well as advisors in Canada, to ensure compliance with the evolving requirements of the relevant securities regulators, the TSX and the Canadian Public Accountability Board."

About BDO International

BDO International is a world wide network of public accounting firms, called BDO Member Firms, serving international clients. Each BDO Member Firm is an independent legal entity in its own country. In all, the 89 BDO Member Firms spanning 105 countries employ over 25,000 professionals in 621 offices throughout Europe, North and Southern Africa, North America & the Caribbean, Latin America, the Middle East, and the Asia Pacific region.

About Sino-Forest Corporation

Sino-Forest Corporation, a Canadian company, is the largest private commercial plantation operator in China. The Company started its operations in China in 1994 and is the first foreign and privately managed company involved in forest products in China. The principal business activities include the ownership, management and operation of forestry plantations in China and sales and trading of logs, lumber and wood chips. As of December 31, 2004, the Company has a total plantation forest area of over 241,000 hectares. Besides being a leading commercial wood fiber provider in China, Sino-Forest is also an integrated wood products company with downstream processing operations.

Please note: This press release contains projections and forward-looking statements regarding future events. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance of the Company and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and company plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but not limited to, changes in China and international economies; changes in currency exchange rates; changes in worldwide demand for the Company's products; changes in worldwide production and production capacity in the forest products industry; competitive pricing pressures for the Company's products and changes in wood and timber costs.

Sino-Forest Corporation (TSX:TRE)