Tokyo | Australian CEOs, investors and university bosses are flocking to China for the first time in three years as Xi Jinping’s promise to reboot the economy and end the diplomatic deep freeze with Canberra revives hopes for a flurry of corporate activity this year.

Business leaders including Fortescue Metals executive chairman Andrew Forrest, Treasury Wine Estates chief Tim Ford, and Rio Tinto chief Jakob Stausholm are preparing to visit mainland China in the next two months. The heads of all eight Group of Eight (G08) universities are also planning to visit China before July.