The Shanghai clique (simplified Chinese: 上海帮; traditional Chinese: 上海幫; pinyin: Shànghǎi bāng), also referred to as the Shanghai gang, Jiang clique, or Jiang faction, refers to an informal group of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials who rose to prominence under former CCP General Secretary Jiang Zemin while he served as the party chief and mayor of Shanghai.

Chinese politics have long been defined by the competition between intra-party factions' ability to place key members and allies in positions of power within the CCP and Chinese government. In the 1990s when Jiang Zemin was the CCP General Secretary, Chinese politics was dominated by the Shanghai gang as Jiang attempted to place cultivated ideological followers in senior positions within the government. Under Hu Jintao, the Shanghai gang balanced Hu's Chinese Communist Youth League (CCYL) faction in government and under Xi Jinping, the Shanghai gang continues to contend with Xi's faction wherein both factions attempt to obtain the political upper-hand through the nomination of chosen officials to senior roles.

The Shanghai clique originated in June 1989, when Jiang Zemin, then Party secretary of Shanghai, was elevated as General Secretary of Communist Party after Tiananmen Square protests. However, in the first few years, Jiang was under heavy influence of party elders such as Deng Xiaoping and Chen Yun. During this time, Jiang only elevated Zeng Qinghong, then Deputy Party secretary of Shanghai, into Beijing to become deputy director of Central Office. After the 14th Party Congress in 1992, some of Jiang's close associates such as Li Lanqing and Wu Bangguo were able to earn a seat in the Politburo. In the following years, some of the Jiang's close associates were placed in important positions. Wu Bangguo became Vice Premier in 1994, and Huang Ju became Party Secretary of Shanghai as well as entered Politburo in the same year. Jia Qinglin, another close associate with Jiang Zemin, became Party secretary of Fujian in 1993. Zeng Qinghong also took over the Central Office in 1993, when he took over the position of director of the office from Wen Jiabao. Some of Jiang's political opponent was removed from the key position. Chen Xitong, then Party secretary of Beijing and a member of Politburo, was arrested due to the corruption charge in 1995, but many thought that Chen's downfall was mainly due to his bad relationship with Jiang Zemin and opposing some of Jiang's policy. Shanghai Clique became the dominant force in Chinese politics after the death of Deng Xiaoping in 1997, where some of Jiang's close associates such as Li Lanqing gained a seat in the powerful Politburo Standing Committee and others like Huang Ju, Zeng Qinghong, Li Changchun, and Jia Qinglin all entered politburo. Qiao Shi, the main political rival to Jiang Zemin, was retired in the same year after the Shanghai clique used Qiao's age as the reason to ask him to step down. However, Jiang could not choose his successor since Deng Xiaoping already handpicked Hu Jintao as Jiang's successor in 1992.

Outside mainland China, after Hu Jintao became general secretary of the CCP Central Committee in 2002, there have been many commentary books on the relationship between the Shanghai Gang and the central government headed by Hu at that time. It is still taboo to talk about within the mainland. In the Political Bureau of the CCP Central Committee elected by the 16th and 17th CCP National Congresses, the "Shanghai Gang" occupied several positions on the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CCP Central Committee. Jiang Zemin himself also continued to serve as the chairman of the CCP Central Military Commission after Hu Jintao became the general secretary of the CCP Central Committee. In 2004, he resigned as chairman of the Military Commission at the fourth plenary session of the 16th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party on September 19, 2004, but still retained his office of the Chairman of the Military Commission until the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in 2012.

Upon Jiang's retirement in 2004, it was widely believed that he stuffed the Politburo Standing Committee with his 'own men', and was making it difficult for Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao to carry out their own policies. Evidence for this theory included the 5th Plenary Meeting of 16th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, when Hu's efforts to reshuffle the Politburo was blocked by members of the Shanghai Clique. Wen's macro-economic measures aimed at slowing down infrastructure growth and nationwide overheating in the property sector received great resistance from alleged members of this clique until the fall of Chen Liangyu in September 2006.

However, as Jiang had retired from all of his positions at the 4th Plenary Meeting of 16th National Congress of the CCP, Hu Jintao became the legitimate Paramount leader. There were signs of important members of the Shanghai Clique defecting to Hu's camp, thereby strengthening Hu's position. In addition, in a bold move in September 2006, Hu acted to purge prominent rival Chen Liangyu, former Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary and Mayor of Shanghai, for alleged corruption, thus strengthening his position both within the party and in China. Following Chen Liangyu's downfall, Hu Jintao also removed some other officials appointed during Jiang Zemin's time in office. Zhang Dingfa, then commander of PLA navy who was named by Jiang Zemin in 2003, was removed from office in August 2006 and replaced by Wu Shengli. You Xigui, then director of Central Guard Bureau named by Jiang Zemin in 1994 and also a close associate of Jiang Zemin, was removed by Hu Jintao in September 2007 and replaced by Cao Qing. Follow the death of Huang Ju and retirement of Zeng Qinghong in 2007, the Shanghai clique was no longer as powerful as before after the 17th Party Congress. Hu Jintao also blocked Han Zheng, then mayor of Shanghai and a former deputy of Chen Liangyu, to become the Party Secretary of Shanghai and earn a seat in the Politburo. Instead, Hu transferred then Party Secretary of Hubei Yu Zhengsheng to take over the Party Secretary of Shanghai position from Xi Jinping. However, the clique still held key positions in Beijing. Zhou Yongkang, who has been seen as a member of the Shanghai clique and close associate with Jiang Zemin, entered the Politburo Standing Committee in 2007 and became secretary of Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, giving him the authority to command China's courts, law enforcement, prosecution agencies, paramilitary forces, and domestic intelligence agencies. Other close associates of Jiang Zemin such as Wu Bangguo, Jia Qinglin, and Li Changchun still remain in the PSC. But with members of Tuanpai such as Li Keqiang, Li Yuanchao, and Wang Yang entering Politburo, the power is more balanced between Jiang and Hu faction. In the issue of choosing Hu Jintao's successor, however, the Shanghai clique successfully blocked Li Keqiang, a core member of Tuanpai and protege of Hu Jintao, from being selected as Hu's successor. Instead, Xi Jinping, who has connections with both Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, are being selected as Hu's successor.

After July 2009 Ürümqi riots, Hu Jintao successfully removed Wang Lequan from the position of Party secretary of Xinjiang, where he served since 1994 and was appointed Jiang Zemin. Zhang Chunxian, a member of Tuanpai, was transferred from Hunan to Xinjiang to take over the position.

After Hu left office in 2012, the influence of the Shanghai clique was no longer a visible feature of the Chinese political landscape. Some of the inner members of Shanghai clique including Zhou Yongkang and Guo Boxiong were being prosecuted under the anti-corruption started after the 18th Party Congress leading by Xi Jinping and Wang Qishan. China Leadership Monitor, which calls the group the "Shanghai Gang", has identified Han Zheng and Wang Huning (who both joined the Politburo Standing Committee in 2017) as members.