The Communist Party of Vietnam is organized according to the Leninist principle of democratic centralism. The supreme party organ is the National Party Congress (, commonly referred to as the Party Congress â ), which has been held every five years since .
Previously, due to the wartime conditions during the First Indochina War and the Vietnam War, the first four Congresses were not held on a regular schedule. Since its founding, 14 nationwide CPV Congresses have been convened.
The National Party Congress elects the Central Committee, consisting of 180 full members and 20 alternates. The Central Committee usually meets twice a year.