  The production of $\pi^0$, $\eta$, and $\phi$ in the most central (0%-5%)
Xe+Xe collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.44 TeV is investigated in the framework
of the perturbative QCD (pQCD) improved parton model at an accuracy of
next-to-leading order (NLO). The jet quenching effect is effectively
incorporated by medium-modified fragmentation functions via the higher-twist
approach. Predictions of the nuclear modification factors of $\pi^0$, $\eta$,
and $\phi$ as functions of the transverse momentum $p_{\rm T}$ are made with
the jet transport parameter $\hat{q}_0$, which is extracted from the available
experimental data of charged hadrons provided by ALICE and CMS. The particle
ratios $\eta/\pi^0,\ \phi/\pi^0$ as functions of $p_{\rm T}$ in Xe+Xe
collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.44 TeV as well as in 0%-5% Pb+Pb collisions
at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV are also presented. The numerical simulations of
the scaled ratios of charged hadron production in the Xe+Xe 5.44 TeV system
over those in the Pb+Pb 5.02 TeV system give a good description of the CMS
data, and the scaled ratios of $\pi^0$, $\eta$, and $\phi$ production coincide
with the curve of charged hadron production.
