Võ Thị Ánh Xuân
Who was Võ Thị Ánh Xuân?
Vietnamese politician who has served as Vice President of Vietnam since 2021, becoming the first woman to hold this position. She previously served as Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee and held various provincial leadership roles.
Biographical data adapted from Wikipedia’s article on Võ Thị Ánh Xuân (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Biography
Võ Thị Ánh Xuân was born on 8 January 1970 in Thới Sơn, Vietnam. Before entering politics, she worked as an educator, a background that influenced her approach to public service and administration. She moved up through the ranks of the Communist Party of Vietnam over several decades, gaining a reputation as a skilled and disciplined provincial leader before reaching national prominence.
Xuân served as the Party Secretary of An Giang province, one of the most populous and strategically important provinces in the Mekong Delta, where she also chaired the provincial deputies delegation to the National Assembly. Her performance in these roles made her a trusted figure within the party and helped secure her nomination for higher office. She is a member of the Party Central Committee, showing her standing among Vietnam's top political leadership.
On 6 April 2021, the National Assembly elected Xuân as the 17th Vice President of Vietnam, with 93.13 percent of votes in her favor. Her election was historically significant as she became the first woman to hold the vice presidency in a substantial elected capacity, and at the time she was the youngest to hold that office since Vietnam's reunification in 1945. Her election was part of a broader effort in Vietnamese politics to promote women to senior state positions.
Besides the vice presidency, Xuân twice served as acting president of Vietnam, first in 2023 and again in 2024, during leadership transitions after sitting presidents stepped down. These were important political moments as Vietnam managed leadership changes at the highest government levels. Xuân's handling of these interim responsibilities highlighted her reliability and the trust the party leadership placed in her.
At the 14th National Party Congress, Xuân was re-elected to the Central Committee and then elected to the Central Secretariat, one of the most powerful bodies in the Vietnamese political system. This showed that her influence within the party went beyond the ceremonial duties of the vice presidency, placing her among a small group of officials directing national policy and party direction.
Before Fame
Võ Thị Ánh Xuân grew up in Thới Sơn during a time when Vietnam was undergoing significant changes, as the country was rebuilding and developing after reunification in 1975. She initially worked in education before moving into party and government roles, a common path for Vietnamese officials of her generation who blended professional expertise with political involvement.
Her rise through the ranks in An Giang was methodical and steady. She held various leadership roles at the local and provincial levels, gaining administrative experience and showing loyalty to party goals. By the time she became the Provincial Party Secretary, she had made a name for herself as one of the prominent female political figures outside the capital. This caught the attention of the national party leadership and eventually led to her becoming vice president.
Key Achievements
- Elected 17th Vice President of Vietnam in April 2021 with 93.13 percent of National Assembly votes
- Became the first woman elected to the vice presidency of Vietnam in a substantive capacity
- Served as acting president of Vietnam twice, in 2023 and 2024, during periods of national leadership transition
- Elected to the Central Secretariat of the Communist Party of Vietnam at the 14th Party Congress
- Served as Party Secretary of An Giang province, one of the most significant provincial leadership positions in the Mekong Delta region
Did You Know?
- 01.She received 93.13 percent of National Assembly votes when elected vice president in April 2021, an unusually strong margin reflecting near-unanimous legislative support.
- 02.She served as acting president of Vietnam on two separate occasions, in 2023 and 2024, making her one of the few individuals to hold that interim role more than once.
- 03.She was the youngest vice president of Vietnam since the country's reunification in 1945 at the time of her election.
- 04.Before her political career, she worked as an educator, making her one of the few Vietnamese heads of state or vice presidents to come from a teaching background.
- 05.She is the second woman to have served as acting president of Vietnam, following Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh, who held that role in 2018.