This handout photo taken on Tuesday and released by the 13th National Congress via the Vietnam News Agency shows delegates taking part in the opening session of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) 13th National Congress at the National Convention Centre in Hanoi, Vietnam. Photo: AFP

Vietnam's ruling Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong, 76, has been reelected for a rare third five-year term, state media reported on Sunday, cementing his position as one of the country's longest-serving leaders for decades.

Trong, who emerged on top in a power struggle at the last congress in 2016 and has spearheaded a "blazing furnace" crackdown on corruption in the last five years, was granted an exception to party rules which say people over the age of 65 should retire.

"Comrade Nguyen Phu Trong was elected to be the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, term XIII," the official state media Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported.

Trong's reelection as party general secretary came at a five-yearly party congress in Hanoi, where 1,600 party delegates from across Vietnam are concluding eight days of meetings, mostly behind closed doors, to pick a new leadership team, aiming to bolster Vietnam's ongoing economic success - and the legitimacy of the party's rule.

Vietnam has no paramount ruler and is officially led by four "pillars": the chief of its Communist Party, the most powerful post; a president; a prime minister; and the National Assembly chair.

Reuters