Italian luxury brand Gucci has found a new China head who will take over the previous China chief who quit just 18 months on the job.

The luxury brand has announced the appointment of Merinda Yeung, Gucci's Taiwan division chief, as its new China head who will be tasked to oversee the brand's operation in the mainland China.

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It will not be an easy task for Yeung, analysts said, because she is tasked to turn around the brand's operation in greater China, a market that has turned from hot to sudden cold following the government's crackdown on luxurious spending.

China's luxury market was a hot industry, with Gucci and other European luxury brands flooding the market until the government's anti-corruption crackdown resulted to slower sales of luxury items.

Yeung is a newcomer to Gucci, having joined the luxury company only in February this year but she is not new to the luxury industry having headed Chanel in Singapore and held positions with Louis Vuitton in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Vancouver.

Jean Marc Duplaix, Gucci's chief financial officer, said Yeung's main task is to improve customers' experience in Gucci Chinese stores and better control distribution in the country. Yeung has not issued a statement as of this posting.

The Italian brand's head of China position has been empty since January, when former Estée Lauder executive Carol Shen left.

Interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, a spokesman for Gucci revealed that the decision to let Shen resign was mutual. In a recent interview, Ms. Shen said it was a culture clash, and that she joined the company at a time when the market was shifting dramatically--and the company was unable to shift with it.

"The brand lost sales and didn't have time to rebuild its brand equity or a sturdy foundation," she said.

TagsChina Luxury, Gucci China