Ma was born in 1919 in Nanhai County, Guangdong.[1] He moved to Hong Kong and opened his first business during the late 1930s.[2] He later went to Macau in the 1940s and expanded his business.[1] He aided the Chinese Communist Party during the 1950s by importing commodities from Macau and Hong Kong to mainland China.[1]
Ma died at a Beijing hospital on May 26, 2014, at the age of 95, where he had been hospitalized with heart disease for several years.[1] His funeral was held at the Macau Forum.[4]