Stocks in mainland China dropped on Thursday, leading losses among major markets regionally as the death toll rises in China due to a pneumonia-causing virus outbreak.

The Shanghai composite fell 2.75% on the day to around 2,976.53 while the Shenzhen component dropped 3.52% to close at 10,681.90. The Shenzhen composite also declined 3.451% to end its trading day at approximately 1,756.82.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index also fell 1.89%, as of its final hour of trading.

Elsewhere, the Nikkei 225 in Japan slipped 0.98% to close at 23,795.44 while the Topix index also shed 0.78% to end its trading day at 1,730.50.

Japanese trade data released Thursday showed exports falling more than expected in December. Japanese exports for December fell 6.3% in December as compared to a year before, data from country's Ministry of Finance data showed. That was far lower than expectations of a 4.2% decrease expected by economists in a Reuters poll.

South Korea's Kospi also saw losses as it declined 0.93% to close at 2,246.13.

Meanwhile, shares in Australia declined on the day, with the S&P/ASX 200 falling 0.63% to 7,088.

Data on Thursday showed that jobs growth smashed expectations. On a seasonally adjusted basis, 28,900 jobs were created in Australia in December, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. That was far above expectations of a 15,000 increase from a Reuters poll.

The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.6869 after seeing an earlier low of $0.6836.

Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index fell 1.02%.