According to public records, Ma Huateng(Pony Ma)'s last public appearance in mainland China was in August 2019, when he attended the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAI) in Shanghai.

Since December 2019, Ma has only attended Tencent's annual conference at the end of each year online, breaking his practice of attending such events in person. Employees were told that Ma Huateng was recovering from a back injury. Ma is also a deputy to the National People's Congress, but he missed last year's session in May, citing health reasons.

While offline gatherings largely resumed in mainland China in mid-2020, Ma missed a ceremony in October to mark the 40th anniversary of the establishment of China's first special economic zone in Shenzhen, where Tencent is headquartered.

Meanwhile, Ma, 49, has been participating - at least in audio form - in quarterly earnings calls. Last November, he spoke by audio at a public service event.

Ma's more low-key approach than usual has had little impact on Tencent's operations, which saw its revenue and share price hit record highs during the outbreak as users who had stayed home to avoid the epidemic flocked to Tencent's games and digital services.