The Anfu Club () was a political organisation. It controlled the National Assembly of the Republic of China after the elections of 1918. The organisation was forced to disband after the defeat of its patrons, the Anhui Clique, during the Zhili–Anhui War. The club was formed on the 8th of March 1918 from the Zhonghe Club, a political group organised by Jin Yunpeng on the order of Duan Qirui on the 27th of March 1917. The Anfu Club was primarily organised by Duan's right-hand man, Xu Shuzheng, along with the politicians Wang Yitang, Zeng Yujun, Liu Enge and others. At its height, the organisation controlled roughly 330 seats in the National Assembly. The Club got its name from Anfu Hutong, the street on which the members meet. Political goals and organisation Although officially not a political party, as the term was stigmatised following Yuan Shikai's disbandment of the Kuomintang, the Anfu Club operated as China's first party-state. It was a collective of senators, representatives and government bureaucrats who had their own party roles and positions which mirrored that of the Central Government. There was the Executive Office (干事部), led by Wang Yitang, the council (评议会), which Tian Yinghuang presided over, and the Public Policy Research Association (政务研究会) that was managed by Li Shengduo. The official goal of the Anfu Club was generate public policy, both foreign and internal. Their well-known foreign policies was the club's diplomacy with Japan. Affiliates of the Anfu Club, the New Communications Clique, were bureaucrats which organised loans from Japan to Club's patron, Duan Qirui. Moreover, diplomats selected by the Anfu Club were sent to Versailles to sign the Treaty of Versailles which ultimately caused the May Fourth Movement. However, the actual policy of signing the treaty and suppressing the subsequent student protests where directed by the president of the time, Xu Shichang, and the Anfu Club was blamed for the fiasco by Research Clique affiliated media, which became the widespread belief. Overall, the club's policy to Japan was largely friendly, but with the knowledge that Japan did not have the best interests in mind, which was exemplified by Xu Shuzheng's aid to Germany during the Siege of Qingdao. In terms of internal policy, the Anfu Club did not have an official ideology, but frequently made use of socialist rhetoric and watered down policies, such as the passing of progressive laws making Sunday a holiday, creating