- In 2003, UNESCO published the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
- In 2006, the Chief Executive’s Dispatch No. 32/2006 was published, signaling the integration of the spirit of the aforementioned Convention in related legal frameworks of Macao. IC subsequently engaged in works concerning the safeguard of the local intangible cultural heritage.
- In 2008, IC prepared the document “Tentative Method for Evaluating Macao's Application and Classification for Intangible Cultural Heritage” in order to serve as a basis for the definition of the criteria and respective application and classification procedures.
- On 1 March 2014, the Cultural Heritage Protection Law of Macao officially took effect, whereby intangible cultural heritage has been included as one of the items to be protected.
- In October 2015, IC carried out the Survey of Macao's Intangible Cultural Heritage and collected relevant information, in order to get a more comprehensive understanding about the number and situation of potential items of intangible cultural heritage of Macao.
- In 2017, IC prepared the Inventory for the first time and 15 items were inscribed on the Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
- In December 2019, after respective public consultation and a consultation with the Cultural Heritage Committee, IC recommended that 12 items be inscribed on the List, which were subsequently approved by the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture and published in the Macao SAR Gazette.
- In June 2020, IC updated the Inventory, adding 55 items to the Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage.