Media coverage in China was largely on President Xi Jinping’s participation and speech at “Davos Agenda” 2021. On China’s daily news programme Xinwen Lianbo, the Davos Agenda has been covered on a daily basis. All major media in China reported on the week along with climate change, multilateralism, carbon neutral solutions, and international cooperation in the 4th industrial revolution. Forum interviews and Op-eds were featured in publications including Economic Daily, CCTV Business Channel, CGTN, People’s Daily, Caixin and Xinhua News Agency.

In Japan, the Special Address by Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide was covered on primetime news, namely on NHK. Other media coverage in Japan included announcements on Mission Possible by Newsweek Japan and ESG by Nikkei Asia. Nikkei and Kyodo News were also active in publishing multiple articles everyday throughout the week. The media session in which Asahi Shimbun committed to co-brand will be featured in coming weeks. The op-ed by President Borge Brende was featured in The Japan Times and emphasized the global call for cooperation.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s special address and his call for vaccines drew attention from across the continent and in international media, with mentions in CNBC, Reuters, Business Day (South Africa) and The Guardian (Nigeria). There was also double the number of interviews on the continent compared to last year on topics such as the launch of the Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics (Power FM – South Africa), the Nigerian government joining the Forum’s Global Plastic Action Partnership (NTA, This Day) and the Forum white paper on operationalizing the largest free trade area AfCFTA (CNBC Africa) with Chido Munyati’s op-ed featured in La Tribune (Pan-African) and Mail & Guardian (South Africa).

Across the Middle East and Turkey, media covered the Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics launch (Al Khaleej, Hürriyet, Dünya) and Kind Abdullah of Jordan’s Special address (Sky News Arabia, Anadolu Agency). Coverage also focused on vaccine distribution in the region (CNN Arabic, Al Hurrah TV) and its manufacturing (Asharq Al Awsat, Youm 7). Feature articles included President Borge Brende’s interview in Asharq Al Awsat and Mirek Dusek’s with Al Khaleej.

In ASEAN, heads of state and senior ministers participated the Davos Agenda Week and provided insights. President of South Korea Moon Jae-In gave a special address highlighting inclusion, solidarity, cooperation in overcoming COVID-19. The message was picked up in international media: FT, CNBC, Bloomberg, Yahoo News, across the region: Straits Times (Singapore); Xinhua News Agency (China), Berita Satu (Indonesia), as well as in national news: Arirang TV, KBS, The Korean Herald.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s closing remarks calling for global cooperation was live-streamed on Channel NewsAsia, well covered by media worldwide, including Reuters, Bloomberg, CGTN (China), Nikkei Asia (Japan), Hindustan Times (India) and the Business Times (Singapore). Media in the ASEAN region followed the Davos Agenda closely. Including live coverage from The Straits Times, The Jakarta Post, ABS-CBN (Philippines), The ASEAN Post (Malaysia), BusinessWorld (Philippines) and VTV (Viet Nam).

Prime Minister Modi’s message on India’s capability to strengthen the global supply chain and introducing more locally made COVID-19 vaccines was under the spotlight in Indian media, and across the globe: Times of India, mint, NDTV, India Today, Economic Times; FT, CNBC-TV18; Business Standard, Reuters, EFE (Spain), South China Morning Post and Swissinfo.

An opinion piece from Forum colleagues on four ways South Asia can lead to pandemic recovery and become the driver of global growth published in The Print. In addition, Forum initiatives such as the EDISON Alliance, Global AI Action Alliance (GAIA) and Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics were also widely reported – The Hindu, Hindustan Times, Financial Express and Wion(link to come next week).

Europe had the most special addresses of any region this year and their strong calls for cooperation in turning the economy green, cooperation with the vaccine roll out and regulating technology were picked up by global media. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s last special address as Chancellor at the Davos Agenda received prominent coverage in German media and throughout Europe including Süddeutsche Zeitung, Der Spiegel, and Manager Magazin.

Remarks from French President Emmanuel Macron (Le Figaro, La Tribune, BFM TV) and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen (The Financial Times, The Guardian, France Info, La Repubblica) also received widespread coverage.

Sustainability and the green transition were a focus for UK, Swiss and German reporters (The Independent, Deutsche Welle, Corriere della Sera, Tribune de Genève). Furthermore, access to the COVID-19 vaccine and its distribution were discussed in business publications throughout Europe (FAZ, Le Monde, Les Echos, AGI). The FT ran daily Davos review pieces capturing the special addresses and ministerial participation as well as summaries of key business leaders on green investments and economic recovery.

An op-ed by Mirek Dusek, Deputy Head of the Centre for Geopolitical and Regional Affairs, was featured in Il Sole 24 Ore and Die Presse.

Media coverage in Latin America was largely focused on the President of Argentina’s Special Address and the President of Colombia’s participation, including in Àmbito, Clarín, Exame, Estadão, El Heraldo, Infobae, Semana, O Globo, G1, Télam and Valor. The COVID-19 pandemic and inequality were also top of mind. Several initiatives and launches were also featured such as the EDISON Alliance in Brazil and Colombia; the AI Alliance in Argentina and Brazil and the Racial Justice Initiative in Brazil and other media outlets in the region. For the first time, in partnership with El Tiempo and Exame, we had Spanish and Portuguese Davos sessions. Borge Brende’s op-ed was published in Infobae and Brazilian photographer and “Crystal Awards” awardee, Sebastião Salgado was covered by his home country.

This year, media covered a wide range of topics namely climate remarks from John Kerry (New York Times), ESG commitments (Barron’s) and the changing views of world leaders (Washington Post). Daily coverage in top publications like the NYT, WSJ and Washington Post as well as in speciality publications on development (Devex), climate action (Greenbiz) blockchain (Coindesk) and AI (Venture Beat).

Other coverage focused on geopolitics with many outlets, including, CNBC, Axios, Quartz, reporting on addresses from top Public Figures like Xi, Merkel and Putin and what their statements may mean for US foreign policy under the new administration.