【Background】The soil microbial community plays an important role in plant establishment, growth and nutrition. Invasion success may be linked to plantmicrobe interactions. 【Method】Under glasshouse conditions, we compared the effect of soil microbial communities to the growth and interactions between the exotic weed Ageratina adenophora and native plants. The microbial communities were from soil invaded by A.adenophora (IS) vs. that dominated by native weeds (NS). 【Result】A.adenophora which received inoculum from IS had higher arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization rate than that from NS, especially when Medicago falcata or Setaria viridis grew near A.adenophora. Microbial inoculum from IS accelerated the growth of A.adenophora, when planted in polyculture with the native plant S.viridis, but the native species growth was not affected. A.adenophora, receiving an inoculum from IS, inhibited the growth of its two neighboring native species, while no such effect was observed when using inoculum from NS. A.adenophora responded positively to the inoculum taken from IS in all planting combinations, but responded negatively to inoculum from NS both in monoculture and in polyculture with M.falcata. 【Conclusion and significance】Soil microbes, including arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi present in soil in the rhizosphere of A.adenophora enhanced the competiveness of this invasive weed against native species, which may be an important invasion mechanism of exotic plants.