Ma Hongbin (simplified Chinese: 马鸿宾; traditional Chinese: 馬鴻賓; pinyin: Mǎ Hóngbīn) (September 14, 1884 – October 21, 1960), was a prominent Muslim Ma clique warlord in China during the Republic of China era.
Ma was born in Linxia, Gansu, China. As a nephew of Ma Fuxiang, he followed him and later Feng Yuxiang into the army. Upon his cooperation with Chiang Kai-shek, he was named commander of the 22nd Division, 24th Army, within the National Revolutionary Army. He was governor of Ningxia from 1921 to 1928 and chairman of the government of Ningxia in 1930. However, Ma Hongbin developed and consequently lost a power struggle with his brother Ma Hongkui, a fact that was exploited by Chiang Kai-shek to his own advantage by preventing Ma Hongbin from total defeat. In 1930, Chiang named Ma Hongbin as the Chairman of the Provincial Council of Gansu, a post he held until 1931. However, Ma Hongbin only had very limited control, as the actual control of Gansu was mostly in his cousin Ma Zhongying's hands. Even after Ma Zhongying's departure to former-USSR in July, 1934, most local troops remaining and population was still loyal to Ma Zhongying. During Ma Hongbin's rise to power, together with his brother Ma Hongkui and cousins Ma Bufang and Ma Buqing, they were instrumental in help another cousin of theirs, Ma Zhongying, to prevail in Gansu, because they did not want Ma Zhongying to compete with them in their own turfs, so they encouraged and supported Ma Zhongying to develop his own power base in other regions such as Gansu and Xinjiang.
He became the commander of the 81st Corps during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. After the war, he became a senior adviser within the Northwestern Army Headquarters. In 1949 during the Chinese Civil War, when the People's Liberation Army was approaching the northwest, Ma Hongbin led his 81st Corps to cross over to the communist. He was named vice-chairman (later restyled vice-governor) of Gansu province. He was also vice-director of the Commission of Ethnic Affairs as well as a member of the National Defense Commission of the People's Republic of China. He died in Lanzhou in 1960.
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