The 12th Secretariat, formally the Secretariat of the 12th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV, Vietnamese: Ban Bàthð Ban Chấp hành Trung ðáng ÃÂảng Cá»Âng sản Viá»Ât Nam Khoá XII), was elected on 27 January 2016 during the 12th National Congress to serve for a five-year electoral term. The secretariat is a central leading organ of the CPV Central Committee responsible for executing the decisions of the politburo and the Central Committee. It is tasked with handling day-to-day work as well as leading and supervising the work of the Central Committee apparatus, which is the administrative working organs of the CPV Central Committee. In this regard, it functions as the highest executive organ of the CPV when the Party's National Congress and the Central Committee are adjourned.
The 12th Secretariat was led by a general secretary, who formally directed its work, and a permanent member of the Secretariat, responsible for its day-to-day work. Nguyá» n Phú Trá»Âng was elected general secretary on 27 January 2016 and remained in office for the duration of the Central Committee's term, while the 12th Politburo appointed ÃÂinh Thế Huynh as the permanent member of the secretariat on 4 February 2016. He held this position until 2 March 2018, when he was relieved of his duties and succeeded by Trần Quá»Âc Vðợng. ÃÂinh Thế Huynh had been on sick leave since July 2017 to undergo medical treatment for an undisclosed health problem. On 28 July 2017, the 12th Politburo convened to discuss the proposal of the Central Organisation Commission (COC) to assign a politburo member as the standing member of the Secretariat in light of ÃÂinh Thế Huynh's health problems: it appointed Trần Quá»Âc Vðợng to serve in an acting capacity from 1 August 2017 onwards. BBC News concluded that Trần Quá»Âc Vðợng was most likely selected as the permanent member to strengthen the ongoing anti-corruption campaign unleashed under Nguyá» n Phú Trá»Âng's leadership. Trần Quá»Âc Vðợng had gained experience in anti-corruption work in his earlier stint as the director of the Supreme People's Procuracy. On 2 March 2018, the 12th Politburo convened yet again, ordering ÃÂinh Thế Huynh to resign from office and appointing Trần Quá»Âc Vðợng in his place.
At first, the composition of the 12th Secretariat was the same as that of the 11th electoral term, and stood at ten members. The first three members (Lðáng Cðá»Âng, Nguyá» n VÃÂn Nên and Nguyá» n Hòa Bình) were elected on 27 January 2016 by the 1st Plenary Session of the 12th Central Committee. That session ordered the 12th Politburo to assign individuals from its own ranks to serve in the Secretariat. A week later, on 4 February, the 12th Politburo convened and assigned six members to the secretariat: Nguyá» n Phú Trá»Âng, ÃÂinh Thế Huynh, Trần Quá»Âc Vðợng, Phạm Minh ChÃÂnh, Võ VÃÂn Thðá»Âng and Trðáng Thá» Mai. Of these, Nguyá» n Phú Trá»Âng, ÃÂinh Thế Huynh and Trần Quá»Âc Vðợng had served in the 11th Secretariat. This politburo meeting also assigned the work responsibilities of the members, appointing them to head administrative working bodies of the CPV Central Committee apparatus. Phạm Minh ChÃÂnh was appointed to lead the COC, Võ VÃÂn Thðá»Âng to direct the Central Propaganda and Education Commission, Trðáng Thá» Mai to oversee the Central Mass Mobilisation Commission and Nguyá» n VÃÂn Nên to manage the . Trần Quá»Âc Vðợng served in the Secretariat as the chairman of the Central Inspection Commission. Two months later, it was made public that the 12th Politburo had assigned Nguyá» n VÃÂn Bình, the former governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, to head the from 11 April 2016.
On 7 October 2017, the 6th Plenary Session of the 12th Central Committee elected Phan ÃÂình Trạc and to the Secretariat. Up to that point, Phan ÃÂình Trạc had served as chairman of the party's , while Nguyá» n Xuân Thắng concurrently held the positions of rector of the and vice chairman of the Central Theoretical Council. Two months later, on 14 October, Nguyá» n Xuân Thắng was assigned on the orders of the 12th Politburo to serve as acting chair of the Central Theoretical Council since ÃÂinh Thế Huynh could no longer fulfil his duties due to health problems. With ÃÂinh Thế Huynh's health problems worsening, Nguyá» n Xuân Thắng was appointed in his place on 2 March 2018. At the 12th Central Committee's seventh plenum on 9 May, Trần Cẩm Tú and Trần Thanh Mẫn were elected to the secretariat. Trần Cẩm Tú had earlier the same day been elected as chairman of the CPV Central Inspection Commission, while Trần Thanh Mẫn had previously served as the secretary of the before being elected as the chairman of the Central Committee of the Vietnamese Fatherland Front.