China has revealed that four of its People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers were killed on the disputed border of the two countries high in the Himalayas in June last year during a bloody hand-to-hand battle with Indian troops.

In what was the deadliest border clash between the two nuclear-armed neighbors in over 40 years, the two sides fought with fists, stones, and nail-studded bamboo poles.

New Delhi has previously said that at least 20 Indian soldiers died in the Galwan Valley area during the brawl.

According to the report, an award was also given to Qi Fabao, the regimental commander of the Xinjiang Military Command PLA, who was seriously injured in the clash.

PLA Daily did not disclose the ranks of the soldiers.

The "foreign military" troops violated an agreement with China and crossed the border into the Chinese side to set up tents, according to the PLA Daily report.

The report also claimed that when Commander Qi led a few PLA soldiers to negotiate, in an attempt to force the Chinese troops to concede, the Indian side deployed more soldiers.

For the skirmish, China and India have blamed each other.

Earlier, an Indian military source told CNN that the dispute began over a Chinese tent built the night before the clash.

Indian troops tore it down, according to the source.

Chinese troops armed with stones and bamboo sticks with nails came back the next day, the source said, and attacked unprepared Indian soldiers.

CNN is unable to confirm this account of events independently.