70-year-old Wang Jian becomes oldest Chinese to reach summit of Mt. Qomolangma

LHASA -- A 70-year-old Chinese mountaineer, Wang Jian, successfully reached the summit of Mount Qomolangma from the north slope on Tuesday, making him the oldest Chinese mountaineer to reach the summit of Mount Qomolangma, according to the Mountaineering Association of Southwest China's Xizang autonomous region.

Wang and his team safely descended to the base camp at 5,200 meters on Thursday.

Wang is the co-founder and chairman of the board of directors of China's genomics giant, BGI Group. This is his second time reaching the summit of Mount Qomolangma, as he had previously climbed from the south slope in May 2010.

On April 18, he led the BGI mountaineering team to arrive at the base camp and started climbing from the north slope.