SAPO-34 molecular sieves were synthesized by the addition of beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) as crystal growth inhibitor using metakaolin as silicon and aluminum sources. Properties of the obtained samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, N-2 adsorption-desorption, FTIR, XRF, EDX, NH3-TPD and Si-29 MAS NMR. When beta-CD was added, crystal size of the SAPO-34 crystals decreased. Variation of Si content from the crystal center to surface decreased while total Si content hardly changed. Si-29 MAS NMR results showed that beta-CD contributed to better Si dispersion and decreased the size of Si(4Si) patches. Moreover, the MTO (methanol-to-olefin) process was conducted to investigate the influence of beta-CD on catalytic performance. The synthesized sample with molar ratio of beta-CD/Al2O3 equaling 0.055 remained active for 610 min while the sample synthesized without beta-CD for only 280 min, which indicates that the lifetime of catalyst synthesized with beta-CD is greatly prolonged. (C) 2015 Science Press and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics. All rights reserved.