The mainland Chinese markets, closely watched by investors as a result of Beijing's ongoing trade spat with Washington, were lower by the end of the morning session. The Shanghai composite fell 2.25 percent while the Shenzhen composite declined by 3.5 percent.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index also slipped 0.62 percent.

"Concerns over trade tensions continue to build up ahead of the meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping that is to happen on the side-lines of the G-20 meeting next week," said OCBC Treasury Research in a note.

South Korea's Kospi was lower by 1 percent in afternoon trade, with shares of industry heavyweight Samsung Electronics falling 0.94.Chipmaker SK Hynix, on the other hand, recovered from earlier losses to trade up by 0.14 percent.

·         Shanghai stocks fell the most in five weeks on Friday amid worries over China’s economic growth and doubts over chances of President Xi Jingping and U.S. President Donald Trump achieving a de-escalation in the Sino-U.S. trade war when they meet next week.

Shanghai Composite Index slumped 2.5 percent to 2,579.48 points, the biggest one-day percentage loss since October 18. The blue-chip CSI300 index fell 2.2 percent, to 3,143.48 points.