One of the most renowned players in the private equity space is to have a new Greater China head next year.

Private equity titan KKR has named its new head of Greater China, taking effect from the start of next year and taking the reins from David Liu, who is to leave the firm by the end of the year and become an advisor to KKR.

Yang, who wil be based out of Hong Kong, is presently president and chief executive of China Development Financial Corporation.

KKR has recently announced it wants to expand its Asia leadership team with new talent in China, Singapore and South Korea. Among the joiners has been Zhen Ji, managing director of KKR China, coming from CITIC Capital.

At CDFC, Yang supervised the group's investments and led a team of 7,000 people across its operations in Hong Kong, Taipei, Shanghai, Seoul, Singapore, Bangkok, and Jakarta.

Having joined CDFC in 2005 as its chief investment officer and head of its private equity business, Yang was promoted to his current role in 2011.

The market for private equity in Asia has become more difficult in recent months. The pace of fundraising by private equity firms in Asia has decelerated sharply so far this year compared with the amount of activity reported in 2015, while venture capital money-raising has proven more robust, according to research firm Preqin. Fundraising has fallen in all regions of the world, with the aggregate capital raised by Asia-based private equity firms at $19 billion so far this year, far below the total seen in 2015, at $47 billion.

KKR's current flagship $6 billion Asian Fund II, the largest private equity fund raised in Asia, is generating "strong returns" for investors, the firm said, while not stating a specific figure.

The firm, originally known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, and based in New York, launched its operations in Asia in 2005 and now has seven offices across the region. To date, it has completed more than 60 private equity deals in the region, collectively worth more than $10 billion.