Abstract This quantitative study investigated the relationship between Chinese university students’ English self-efficacy and English language performance. All the data were collected from a questionnaire of English self-efficacy (QESE) and National College English Test(CET) among 387 university students in China. Principal component analyses showed that the QESE included four sub-dimensions, English self-efficacy in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to test the validity of the scale. The descriptive analysis showed Chinese university students have a moderate level in English self-efficacy. Female students were more self-efficacious than male students by Independent Samples t-test. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient analysis showed that Chinese university students’ English self-efficacy was significantly correlated with their English language performances. What’ more, Multiple regression analysis showed that speaking and listening statistically significantly predicted English performances among Chinese university students. Pedagogical implications and future research are discussed at the end of this paper.