The announcement was made jointly via video link on Tuesday by Nepal's Foreign Minister, Pradeep Gyawali, and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.
The announcement had come after much speculation over amending the height of Mt Everest after the massive earthquakes in Nepal in 2015.
The re-measuring of the world's highest mountain began in 2017 by Nepal’s survey team. A group of experts then installed a Global Positioning System (GPS) and radar that penetrated the ground on the mountain in May 2019. The whole process had a total cost of around $1.65 million (AUD).
China, meanwhile, took its own measurement of Everest, which shares its border, in 2019.
Speaking during the official event, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed his gratitude towards Nepal in an event that was broadcast LIVE on the Himalayan nation's government run media.
This decision to jointly announce the newly scaled height of the Everest was agreed upon by both countries when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Nepal last year.
The previous height (8848 meters) had been announced by India and verified using trigonometric methods.
Nepalese government officers watch a live telecast of a joint announcement on the height of Mount Everest, in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020. Source: AAP/ AP/ Nirajan Shrestha
After the announcement, Lisa Honan, a British Embassy official in Kathmandu said the new measurement "includes snow" and the main message "must be to keep the snow there".
Nepal started the official survey process after debates about the height of Mt Everest started since the country's devastating earthquake in 2015. At that time, the government’s survey department had also noticed changes in the height of several locations within Kathmandu valley.
In 1999 the United States had scaled the height of Mt. Everest and concluded its height to be 8850 meters. Whereas, China's measurement in 2005 showed 8844 meters, as their team only measured the rocks and not the ice on top of the mountain.
Discussing the new official height of Mount Everest, Tasmania resident Punam Panta lamented the "effort" people scaling the mountain will now have to go through.
"If you are planning to climb Mt. Everest, remember you now need to climb extra 86 cms. ," Ms Panta published on social media.
Paul Hameister at Mount Everest in Nepal circa 2011 Source: Paul Hameister
