Chinese rescuers have found the body of an American climber on a remote mountain eight months after she disappeared, Xinhua news agency said on Monday.

Christine Boskoff, 39, and fellow climber Charlie Fowler, 52 had not been heard from since November.

Fowler's body was found in December at an altitude of 5,300 metres (17,400 ft) on Genyen Mountain in the southwestern province of Sichuan, bordering Tibet, but the search for Boskoff was suspended because of poor weather.

Chinese rescuers resumed the search after winter snow had melted and found her body near where Fowler was found, Xinhua said. It did not give an exact day for when the body was discovered, only that it was this month.

The two climbers were probably killed in an avalanche, the agency said, citing the Sichuan Mountaineering Association.

Boskoff's body was still on the mountain as it was too dangerous to reach it on the steep slope, it said, citing rescuers.

The association had informed US diplomats of the discovery, and were awaited their response on how to deal with the body, it added.

Boskoff was among the world's leading high-altitude women climbers and had ascended six of the world's peaks over 7,800 meters, including Mount Everest, according to the agency.