Ma was given a silver cup by the Divine Word Missionaries after he came back from the northwestern front.

Hu faked a retreat, then Communist General Peng Dehuai advanced with 120,000 men from Xi'an to Sichuan, but at 75 miles Hu started a pitched battle and then Ma personally led 20,000 of his cavalry forces to defeat the Communist forces and send them fleeing, and he continued to battle the Communist forces throughout July around Xi'an.

[5] In August 1949, Ma Bufang personally traveled by plane to the KMT government in Guangzhou in order to request supplies via airdrop, while his son Ma Jiyuan assumed command over the KMT forces at Lanzhou, who promised to defend the city from the Communists, saying "那是一定的 (Na shih yi ting ti)", meaning "That is definite" and, "Lanchow [sic] will never fall to the Communists".

In between the move he also traveled to Taiwan to advise the Ministry of National Defense (Republic of China) and the Kuomintang party.

Ma Jiyuan's passing in Mecca, on 27 February, 2012, was met with sorrow by the People's Republic of China consulate.