The current height of the mountain, 8,848 metres, was measured in 1954 by the Survey of India.

Nepal decided to re-measure the peak after speculations that the widely accepted figure might not be the actual height after the 2015 earthquake.

Nepal government officials coordinated with China, who sent its own team to measure the mountain's height.

Kathmandu and Beijing had agreed to jointly announce the revised height during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Nepal in 2019.