* China buys more U.S. soybeans, says USDA

* Corn recoups losses from previous session

* Attention turns to USDA data after holiday weekend (Adds latest prices, details on U.S. export sales and crop estimates, changes byline/dateline, previous PARIS/SINGAPORE)

CHICAGO, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Increasing Chinese demand lifted U.S. soybean futures to their highest prices in more than two years on Friday, while corn futures rose on concerns about U.S. crop damage from adverse weather conditions.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said private exporters sold 318,000 tonnes of U.S. soybeans to China and 175,000 tonnes of soymeal to the Philippines, all for delivery in the 2020/21 marketing year.

It was the second consecutive day the USDA reported that China, the world's top soybean importer, had booked U.S. cargoes.

China, which is seeking to combat food security risks, has also been a big buyer of U.S. corn and pork recently.

"It is supporting global prices, at least in the short term," said Phin Ziebell, an agribusiness economist at National Australia Bank in Melbourne.

The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade was up 2 cents a $9.68 bushel by 11:55 a.m. CDT (1655 GMT). It earlier rose to $9.69-1/2, its highest since June 2018 and slightly above a previous a two-year high hit on Thursday.

CBOT corn was up 3-3/4 cents at $3.57-1/2 a bushel, while wheat was down 3-1/2 cents at $5.49-3/4.

Price movements were moderate ahead of the three-day Labor Day weekend in the United States. Traders are waiting for the USDA on Sept. 11 to issue monthly supply and demand forecasts that will include updated U.S. corn and soybean harvest estimates.

Private analytics firm IHS Markit Agribusiness on Friday lowered its U.S. corn yield estimate to 178.1 bushels per acre, from 179.0 bushels a month ago, and its soybean yield estimate to 52.1 bushels per acre, from 52.5 bushels last month.

Dryness in the U.S. Midwest and a damaging windstorm in Iowa last month have reduced traders' harvest expectations.

In Russia, the world's top wheat exporter, consultancy Sovecon raised its forecast for the 2020 wheat crop to 82.6 million tonnes from 81.2 million.

(Reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago, Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy)