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Liu Xuelong, a television and documentary producer in Beijing, hasn’t used his television in years. He gets all of his entertainment on his iPhone 6 Plus, where he also taps a plethora of apps to buy plane tickets, pay bills and talk with clients.

Advertisers increasingly want to be part of Mr. Liu’s digital world — and of the other 527 million people in China with smartphones. Next year companies are expected to spend more money on digital advertising than on television campaigns in China, Alexandra Stevenson reports.

It is a stark shift from three years ago when nearly half of the advertising dollars went to television and just 14 percent went to digital, according to ZenithOptimedia, an advertising agency. China is also diverging from the United States, where television continues to dominate.

“It’s the first time we’ve had an enormous middle class emerge while being digitally connected,” said Jeff Walters, a partner at the Boston Consulting Group in Beijing. “It sets the stage for why digital advertising is so important.”

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