Ma was born Ma Dianrong () in
Muling County (now Muling),
Heilongjiang, in 1930. When he was commander of the 19th Army,
Guo Boxiong was the
chief of staff. In June 1985, he was promoted to deputy commander of the
Lanzhou Military Region. He was deputy commander of the
Jinan Military Region in February 1988, in addition to serving as chief of staff. He attained the rank of
lieutenant general (
zhongjiang) in 1988. In April 1990, he was appointed vice president of the
PLA National Defence University, serving in the post until his retirement in December 1994. On 14 April 2024, Ma died in
Beijing, at the age of 94. == References ==