The suspension polymerization of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) was carried out at two different constant temperature conditions (52.5°C and 57.5°C) and at two‐stage variable temperature conditions (52.5–57.5°C). The molecular weight and molecular weight distribution were characterized by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The unstable chlorine content, total double bond content, and conjugated diene content were explored via phenol substitution, catalytic bromine addition, and ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UV–Vis). pH meter and thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) were used for the determination of the thermal stability. According to the results, due to the gradual consumption of the impurities and the effect of the local high temperature in the early stage of polymerization, which caused more molecular chain‐transfer and more structural defects, a large number of oligomers generated. A rapid increase in the molecular weight could be found until the conversion was close to 23%. A lower temperature should be conducive to reducing the structural defects in molecular segments. Based on these observations, we applied two‐stage variable temperature polymerization and compared the PVC resin at a similar molecular weight at a constant temperature of 56°C. The PVC resin produced by the two‐stage variable temperature polymerization process obtained a similar Polydispersity index (PDI), reduced the unstable chlorine content by 15.11%, reduced the total double bond structure content by 8.81%, reduced the conjugated diene structure content by 13.86%, and increased the thermal stability time by 13.91%, thereby improving the thermal stability of the PVC resin. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 25:E80–E87, 2019. © 2018 Society of Plastics Engineers