The Zhili clique (Chinese: 直隸系軍閥; pinyin: Zhílì xì jūnfá) was a military faction that split from the Republic of China's Beiyang Army during the country's Warlord Era.

Unlike other cliques, Zhili was formed by army officers, who felt they had been snubbed by Premier Duan Qirui regarding appointments and promotions.

Cao was victorious in the Zhili–Anhui War (1920) though the credit belongs to his chief lieutenant, Wu Peifu, who was considered as one of the greatest strategists in China at the time.

[citation needed] Cao was imprisoned and leadership passed to Wu who along with Sun Chuanfang managed to hold central China for the next two years.

Western powers were sympathetic but provided no support with the exception of foreign private businesses who appreciated their adoption of an anti-communist and anti-union stance in 1923.