-- The new height of Mount Qomolangma, the world's highest peak, is 8,848.86 meters, according to a joint announcement by China and Nepal.

-- Chinese President Xi Jinping, exchanging letters with his Nepali counterpart Bidya Devi Bhandari on Tuesday, called Mount Qomolangma "an important symbol of the China-Nepal traditional friendship."

-- Bhandari said Nepal and China have always been good neighbors, friends and partners.

The new height of Mount Qomolangma, the world's highest peak, is 8,848.86 meters, China and Nepal jointly announced on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Liu Qian)

BEIJING/KATHMANDU, Dec. 8 -- The new height of Mount Qomolangma, the world's highest peak, is 8,848.86 meters, according to a joint announcement by China and Nepal on Tuesday.

The figure, including the height of the snowcap, was confirmed by surveyors from the two countries, which reached a consensus last year to jointly declare the remeasured height of the peak and conduct scientific research on it.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, exchanging letters with his Nepali counterpart Bidya Devi Bhandari on Tuesday, called Mount Qomolangma "an important symbol of the China-Nepal traditional friendship."

For more than a year, the two countries' survey teams have overcome all kinds of difficulties, solidly carried out their work, and finally reached a conclusion on the snow height based on the International Height Reference System, he said.

A Chinese survey team reached the summit of Mount Qomolangma on May 27 and remeasured the peak height. The team members remained at the summit for two and a half hours, a new record for Chinese climbers. Nepali surveyors reached the top of the mountain in May 2019.