Globalization of social and economic activities has led to the large-scale redistribution of plant species. The issue of whether alien species are invasive and thus pose a threat to local ecosystems has attracted attention in recent years. The characteristics of invasive alien species and the mechanism of successful invasion are still unclear. Here, we downloaded plant trait data on TRY-Plant Trait Database and classified alien species into four groups: high, medium, noteworthy, and harmless according to their distribution and degree of harm to local plant communities. We clarified the relationship between plant functional traits and invasion level, and established a prediction model based on plant functional traits and taxonomy. Our study found that species with smaller seeds, smaller individuals, lower special leaf area and longer seed bank longevity are more likely to be an invasive species after introduction to foreign ecosystems. In addition, seed longevity and seed mass are important for plants’ invasion. In summary, exotic species with longer seedbank longevity and lower seed dry mass are more likely to be invasive in China. We also trained two predictive models based on the recursive split tree method to check if we can predict a species’ invasion. Combining the two model together, statistically, we could predict if a species is invasive from its traits and taxonomy with a 91.84% accuracy. This model could help local governments, managers and stakeholders to evaluate shall we introduce some plant species in China.