The Beiyang government was the government of the Republic of China which sat in its capital Beijing between 1912 and 1928. It was internationally recognized as the legitimate Chinese government during that time. The name derives from the Beiyang Army, which dominated its politics with the rise of Yuan Shikai, who was a general of the Qing dynasty. After his death, the army split into various warlord factions competing for power, in a period called the Warlord Era. Although the government and the state were nominally under civilian control under a constitution, the Beiyang generals were effectively in charge of it. Nevertheless, the government enjoyed legitimacy abroad along with diplomatic recognition, had access to tax and customs revenue, and could apply for foreign financial loans.

Its legitimacy was seriously challenged in 1917, by Sun Yat-sen's Canton-based KMT government movement. His successor Chiang Kai-shek defeated the Beiyang warlords during the Northern Expedition between 1926 and 1928, and overthrew the factions and the government, effectively unifying the country in 1928. The KMT proceeded to install its nationalist government in Nanjing; China's political order became a one-party state, and the KMT government subsequently received international recognition as the legitimate government of China.