Prior to joining Deutsche Bank in 2000, Ma worked from 1992 to 2000 as an economist and senior economist at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. From 1988 to 1990, he served as an economic research fellow at the Development Research Center of China's State Council.

The appointment complements the hire of Lu Lei as head of PBOC's research bureau in February 2014. Lei at the time was the president of the Guangdong University of Finance and, before that, served as an advisory economist for the central bank until 2005.