President Truong Tan Sang Preceded by Nong Duc Manh Succeeded by Nguyen Sinh Hung Name Nguyen Trong | Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung Preceded by Nguyen Van An Preceded by ??? | |
![]() | ||
The Banyan Tree Leadership Forum with Nguyen Phu Trong
Courtesy Call on CPVCC General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng 9/29/2016
Nguyễn Phú Trọng ([ŋwɨ̌ənˀ fǔ tʂâwŋmˀ]; born 14 April 1944) is the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, elected at the party's 11th National Congress on 19 January 2011 and re-elected at the 12th National Congress in 2016. Trong heads the party's Secretariat, and is the Secretary of the Central Military Commission, in addition to being the de facto head of the Politburo, the highest decision-making body in Vietnam, which currently makes him the most powerful person in Vietnam.
Contents
- The Banyan Tree Leadership Forum with Nguyen Phu Trong
- Courtesy Call on CPVCC General Secretary Nguyn Ph Trng 9292016
- Biography
- General Secretary
- Career
- References
Biography

Trọng was born in Đông Hội Commune, Đông Anh District, Hanoi. His official biography gives his family background only as "poor peasant". He studied philology at Vietnam National University, Hanoi from 1963 to 1967. Trọng officially joined the Communist Party in December 1968. He worked for the Tạp chí Cộng Sản (Communist Review), the theoretical and political agency of the Communist Party of Vietnam (formerly the "Labor Party"), in the periods of 1967–73, 1976–80, and 1983–96. From 1991 to 1996, he served as the editor-in-chief of the Tạp chí Cộng Sản.
Trọng went to the Soviet Union in 1981 to study at the Academy of Social Sciences and received a Candidate of Sciences degree in history in 1983. In 1998, Trọng entered the party section devoted to political work, making him one of the most prominent Vietnamese political theoreticians, heading the CPVCC's Theoretical Council in charge of the Party's theoretical work from 2001 to 2006.
Trọng has been member of the Party's Central Committee since January 1994, member of the Party's Political Bureau since December 1997, and deputy to the National Assembly since May 2002. From January 2000 to June 2006, Trọng was secretary of the Party's Executive Committee of Hanoi, the de facto head of the city authority. On 26 June 2006, Trọng was elected as the Chairman of the National Assembly. During this period he was elected secretary of the Party organization in the Assembly and member of the Council for Defence and Security.
General Secretary
Trong was elected General Secretary of the Communist Party in 2011. The 5th plenum of the 11th Central Committee decided to take the Central Steering Committee for Anti-Corruption away from the prime minister’s control, and Nguyễn Phú Trọng was elected its head.
On 27 January 2016, Trong was re-elected as General Secretary of the 12th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam at the first conference of the committee. At 71 years old, he is the 12th Committee's oldest member. For this term Trong is ranked number one in the politburo, marking a return to normality.