Asia markets closed mixed on Thursday — with mainland China markets recovering — as investors look to the trade talks between Beijing and Washington following the imposition of new U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods during Asian hours.

At 12.01 a.m. EDT on Thursday, the U.S. imposed an additional 25 percent duty on another $16 billion of Chinese imports.

The mainland China markets recovered from their earlier losses to close higher. The ended the trading day up by 0.37 percent around 2,724.63 while the Shenzhen composite closed 0.631 percent higher at about 1,463.69. The smaller NASDAQ-style Chinext Composite ended the day up 1.10 percent to close at 1,758.06

Hong Kong's traded down by 0.42 percent at 3:03 p.m. HK/SIN.

Both the offshore and onshore yuan were weaker against the dollar at 6.8660 and 6.8686 respectively at 3:14 p.m. HK/SIN.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 closed in positive territory, up by 0.22 percent at 22,410.82. South Korea's KOSPI recovered from its earlier losses to close up by 0.41 percent at 2,282.60.

Down Under, the ASX 200 edged lower by by 0.34 percent to close at 6,244.4. Following the release of earnings before the market open, Santos ended the trading day up by 11.32 percent as it revived its dividend. In the airline space, Qantas Airways tumbled 2.83 percent after its pre-market open announcement of a record annual underlying profit.

The Australian dollar weakened during Asian trade, down by 0.68 percent to $0.7296 at 3:15 p.m. HK/SIN.

The moves come amid political turmoil in the country as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull faces another challenge for the leadership of his party, following the resignation of Finance Minister Mathias Cormann earlier on Thursday.

"It seems that Senator Cormann's change of allegiance would really be the final nail for the Turnbull prime ministership. It appears that there's almost no chance now," said Alex Oliver, director of research at the Lowy Institute, on CNBC's "Squawk Box."

Speaking with CNBC's Martin Soong earlier today, Rodney Tiffen, a professor at the University of Sydney, said the situation is "really quite unpredictable."

"We're entering unchartered territory," he added.