German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed skepticism over a U.S. initiative to halt the growth of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, during a meeting in Hanover on Sunday with former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japanese officials said. All smiles: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe chat during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Hanover industrial fair on Sunday. AP Merkel was quoted as telling Abe she is "skeptical" whether the medium-term goal unveiled last Wednesday by President George W. Bush, the first of its kind by Washington, will be sufficient to help reduce global emissions significantly. Merkel said it is important for developed countries, including the United States as the world's biggest polluter, to show a long-term vision to slash emissions. The chancellor welcomed the fact that Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda has set climate change as a major agenda item for the Group of Eight leaders' summit in Hokkaido in July, the officials said. Merkel was quoted as saying she supports the idea of Fukuda urging Chinese President Hu Jintao during his visit to Japan in early May to hold talks with Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, to solve the recent unrest in the autonomous region. Hu's trip, officially set for May 6 to 10, will be the first by a Chinese president to Japan since Jiang Zemin in 1998. During the opening ceremony for the Hanover industrial fair on Sunday evening, Abe called for Germany's cooperation for the success of the July 7-9 summit in Hokkaido.