Gasoline vehicle exhaust is an important contributor to secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation in urban atmosphere. Fuel composition has considerable potential impact on gasoline SOA production, but this impact is still taken little account in the emission regulations due to the poor understanding of the link between fuel components and SOA production. Here, we present an in-depth study to investigate the impact of gasoline aromatic content on SOA production through chamber approach. A significant amplification factor of 3–6 for SOA productions from gasoline exhausts was observed as gasoline aromatic content rose from 29 % to 37 %. Considerably higher emissions of aromatic volatile organic compounds performed an essential role in the SOA production enhancement. Our findings indicate that gasoline aromatics have significant influence on ambient PM<sub>2.5</sub> concentration in megacities and highlight that more stringent regulation on gasoline aromatic content will achieve unexpected benefit on air quality in urban areas.