Despite the jurisdiction of the PPSS, the first Salesians in the territory were Italian. The first rector of the Immaculate Conception Orphanage – today the Salesian Institute, still in operation – was St Louis Versiglia (1873–1930). It was not until 1912 that the first Portuguese Salesian, Fr José da Silva Lucas, arrived in Macau, where he remained until 1927, having served as rector of the Orphanage in 1926. After him, many Portuguese Salesians passed through there over the years.

From the modest initial premises and its role as an orphanage, it went on to include a primary school, workshops, teaching in Portuguese, English and Chinese, and new buildings equipped with modern facilities and machinery. In 1950, Colégio Dom Bosco opened for Portuguese students. Over the years, both institutions adapted their curricula and facilities to the evolving education system. Both the Salesian Institute and Colégio Dom Bosco were honoured by the Macao Government with the Medal of Cultural Merit. Colégio Dom Bosco was the only one to remain under the jurisdiction of the Portuguese Province until 1999.

Upon the handover of the territory to China, the works in Macao were integrated into the Salesian Province of China, based in Hong Kong. The Portuguese section of the school was closed. In the year following the departure of the Portuguese Salesians, in 2000, a further restructuring took place: Dom Bosco College merged with Yuet-Wah College (founded by Chinese and under the jurisdiction of the Hong Kong Province), with the former focusing on primary education and the latter on secondary education.

Currently, Macao is celebrating the jubilee year marking the 450th anniversary of the diocese (1576–2026) and the Salesian Congregation has just commemorated the 120th anniversary of its arrival in the East. The Salesians are currently present in China with five establishments in Hong Kong and two in Macao: the Salesian Institute and Colégio Dom Bosco/Yuet Wah College. They also have three works in Taiwan. Today, in the Macao Special Administrative Region, fourteen Salesians are working: ten priests, two deacons and two brothers. The Salesian Institute, which has existed for over a century, and Dom Bosco College/Yuet Wah College are two of the largest schools in the territory.