Metacognitive knowledge, experiences, strategies in academic and non-academic writing performance among Chinese EFL students

English as a foreign language (EFL) writing remains a significant challenge for many Chinese university students in both academic and non-academic contexts. Despite its importance, limited attention has been given to the role of metacognition in EFL writing performance. This study aimed to examine the roles of metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive experiences, and metacognitive strategies in Chinese EFL students ’ writing performance. A mixed-methods research design was employed. Quantitative data were collected from 740 Chinese EFL university students using three questionnaires and two writing tests, while qualitative data were obtained through semi-structured interviews with six participants. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), and thematic analysis. The findings revealed significant relationships between metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive experiences, and metacognitive strategies and both academic and non-academic writing performance. Specifically, procedural and conditional knowledge, metacognitive feelings and estimates, and planning, monitoring, and evaluating strategies were significantly associated with academic writing performance. For non-academic writing, conditional knowledge, metacognitive feelings, and planning and evaluating strategies showed significant relationships with writing performance. In addition, metacognitive experiences were positively related to both metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive strategies across academic and non-academic writing tasks. These findings offer important theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical implications by refining metacognitive theory in EFL writing and providing a conceptual foundation for future research on writing skill development. The study also proposes practical recommendations to enhance Chinese EFL students’ metacognitive knowledge, experiences, and strategies, thereby improving their writing performance across academic and non-academic genres.