HONG KONG (AP) — An official survey has found that Chinese factory activity rose again in November to its highest in more than two years.

The monthly purchasing managers' index by the Chinese Federation of Logistics and Purchasing released Thursday climbed to 51.7 last month from 51.2 in October.

The index is based on a 100-point scale with numbers below 50 indicating contraction.

The widely watched indicator for China's outsize manufacturing sector hasn't been this high since July 2014.

A separate index compiled by financial publication Caixin showed that factory activity eased from the previous month but still maintained a robust pace.

Caixin's index slipped to 50.9 from 51.2 previously.

The federation's survey is mainly focused on larger, state-owned enterprises while Caixin's report gives more weighting to small and midsized private businesses.