April 4/PRNewswire-AsiaNet CHINESE BUSINESS ANECDOTE………… HONG KONG: CEO of PacificNet.com, Tony Tong, today addressed the U.S IT and e-commerce trade mission to China about his company's business experiences in Hong Kong and China over the past two years, according to a press release jointly distributed by the U.S Department of Commerce and the Software & Information Association. BOARD APPOINTMENT…………. CAMBRIDGE: Millenium Pharmaceuticals today said that former Bristol-Myers vice chairman, Kenneth E. Weg, would be appointed to the company's board of directors.COMMODITY PURCHASE DEAL…… SINGAPORE: Noble Group Limited, the global raw materials and transport resources supplier, announced today that it has signed a conditional sale and purchase agreement with global agricultural commodity trader, Andre & Cie SA.SHARE ISSUE…………… HONG KONG: Xinao Gas Holdings Limited, the private piped gas distributer, today announced the issue of 180 million new shares, available to professional, institutional and public investors.CHEMICAL CO. BOUGHT…….. CLEVELAND: GEO Specialty Chemicals Inc will purchase Hercule Inc's peroxy chemicals business, the company said today. IP RIGHTS BOUGHT……… LEIDEN: Pharming Group N.V said today that it has bought ProBio Inc, the U.S provider of intellectual property rights for nuclear, transgenic and reproductive technologies.PUBLIC ART PROJECT……… SAINT PAUL: Saint Paul's native son, Charles Schulz, will be honored in a summer public art project, "Charlie Brown Around Town", the town's Mayor, Norm Coleman said today.GAS-FUELLED CHEVROLET…….. IRVINE: Quantum Technologies Inc has developed a natural gas fuel system for the first General Motors Chevrolet Zafira, the company said today.CITY OF CULTURE………………. NEW YORK: The Spanish city of Galicia will be transformed into a "City of Culture" following the construction of a $125 million cultural complex designed by renowned European architect, Peter Eisenman, Spain's Minister of Education, Culture and Sport, Pilar del Castillo, announced today.ONE-STOP RESOURCE…………. BROOMFIELD: McData Corporation, providers of open storage networking solutions, said today that its Elite Partner Program provides a one-stop technical, sales and marketing resource.MOTOROLA OPTIMISTIC…….. SCAUMBURG: Motorola Inc today said it had fresh optimism for 2001, following successful product exhibitions at CeBIT, Germany, and Las Vegas's Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association trade show.ESTIMATES REVEALED……….. SAN JOSE: Agile Software Corporation, the B2B collaborative manufacturing solutions provider, today supplied financial results estimates ahead of close of quarter this month.E-BUSINESS VENTURE………. NORTHBROOK: Underwriters Laboratories Inc today announced the launch of its first e-business venture for plastics manufacturers, the ULIQ Link program. CAPITAL INJECTION………… SANTA CLARA: Speedera Networks Inc, Internet content providers, today said it has received $US 20 million in venture capital from a high-profile group of investors. (AsiaNet is a consortium of leading news agencies distributing unedited,translated press releases for worldwide clients. Contact: www.asianet.com.au for full-text versions).