Nepal and China on Tuesday (December 8) jointly announced the newly-measured height of Mount Everest at 8848.86 metres. The new height declared by Nepal and China means that Mount Everest remains the tallest mountain on Planet Earth.

It is to be noted that in 1955, height of Mount Everest was established by Indian survey at 8848m while new estimates by China, Nepal increase it by 0.86m.

Both Nepali Foreign minister Pradeep Gyawali and Chinese Foreign minister Wang Yi were present on the occasion. The Nepali foreign minister called it a “special and historic moment”, with Chinese Foreign minister Wang Yi saying, “together both countries will create a brighter future of win-win cooperation….and China Nepal friendship last forever”

During the occasion, letters by Nepali President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Chinese President Xi Jinping were also exchanged. 

For the joint announcement of height, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed last year between China’s ministry of natural resources and Nepal’s ministry of land management, cooperatives, and poverty alleviation. Both sides had sent expedition teams on the ground as part of the project.

The development comes even as both countries have increased engagement. Chinese President Xi Jinping had visited the country. The announcement comes just days after Chinese defense minister Wei Fenghe visited Kathmandu.

Nepal worked for a year on processing data regarding the measurement of Mount Everest and it had sent an invitation to all media outlets and representatives about the event which was planned to announce the new height.