Hanoi elects new chairman after rapid leadership reshuffle

By Vo Hai November 27, 2025 | 11:51 pm PT

Vu Dai Thang, new Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee. Photo courtesy of the Vietnam News Agency

The Hanoi People’s Council has elected Vu Dai Thang as Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee for the 2021–2026 term, following a Politburo decision assigning him to the Standing Board of the Hanoi Party Committee and appointing him Deputy Secretary of the city Party Committee.

On the afternoon of Nov. 28, at the Hanoi Party Committee headquarters, the Politburo announced its decision to transfer Thang, previously Secretary of the Quang Ninh Provincial Party Committee, to the Hanoi Party Committee, where he will join the Executive Committee, the Standing Board, and serve as Deputy Secretary. Immediately afterward, the People’s Council convened a session to finalize key personnel appointments.

During the session, the Council approved the resignation of Nguyen Duc Trung from the post of Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee for the 2021–2026 term due to health reasons and personal request, after 15 days holding the post. The Council then elected Thang as Chairman, with 100% of attending delegates voting in favor.

Thang, 50, originally from Hanoi, holds professional backgrounds in economics, law and international relations, and earned a master’s degree from Waseda University in Japan. He was an alternate member of the 12th Party Central Committee and is a full member of the 13th Central Committee.

Over his 28 years of service, he spent 20 years at the Ministry of Planning and Investment, working his way through positions in foreign economic relations and the services sector before becoming Deputy Director-General and then Director-General of the Department of Economic Zone Management. This period shaped his extensive expertise in development management, investment and trade, core areas of the ministry.

In 2014, he was rotated to local governance, joining the Party Executive Committee of Ha Nam Province and later being elected Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee. In 2018, he returned to the Ministry of Planning and Investment as Deputy Minister, overseeing several major portfolios.

In 2020, he was appointed Secretary of the Quang Binh Provincial Party Committee, and four years later, the Politburo transferred him to serve as Secretary of the Quang Ninh Provincial Party Committee for the 2020–2025 term. In September 2025, he was re-elected for the 2025–2030 term, continuing to lead Quang Ninh through its next stage of development.