Based on the multi-regional input and output table, the water, energy, and food (WEF) resource flow between Guangdong Province and other provinces/autonomous regions/cities in China was calculated, and the amount of risk transferred through WEF resource flow between these provinces/autonomous regions/cities was innovatively quantified. Moreover, the value of risk transfer was explored.The results show that: in the inter-provincial WEF resource trade, the net inflow of embodied water to Guangdong Province is 11.706 billion cubic meters; the net inflow of embodied energy is 2.80×10⁹ GJ, and the net inflow of embodied food is 16.2293 million tons. Most regions have a net inflow of WEF resources to Guangdong Province, with Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Henan, Anhui, and Hunan provinces exhibiting the highest inflow values.The influence coefficient and induction coefficient of WEF resources in Guangdong Province are low, and the driving and influence effect on other provinces/autonomous regions/cities in the national WEF resource trade is not strong. In addition, the induction ability of resource consumption changes in other provinces/autonomous regions/cities is weak. The risk transfer value of WEF resource flows exhibits an asymmetrical pattern between input and output regions. For most regions, the risk transfer value of WEF resource flow into Guangdong Province is high. On the basis of alleviating the risk of WEF resources in Guangdong Province, the risk in these regions has not significantly improved, especially in Hainan Province, Tianjin City, Shanghai City, Henan Province, and Gansu Province.The risk transfer value of Yunnan Province, Beijing City, Shanxi Province, and Zhejiang Province is relatively low, and the WEF resource risk caused by the resource input of Guangdong Province is relatively large.

With active resource trade in Guangdong Province, the relationship between water, energy, and food consumption is complicated, which makes comprehensive resource management difficult. Therefore, it is necessary to accurately calculate resource utilization efficiency and quantify resource interaction pressure from the perspective of trade. Based on the multi-scale input-output method, this study calculated the resource intensity of water-energy-food in Guangdong Province, quantified the circulation of water-energy-food-related resource elements, and conducted a quantitative analysis of the mutual interplay of water-energy-food resource pressures from the perspective of trade. The results show that, from 2007 to 2017, the water-energy-food resource intensity in all sectors in Guangdong Province gradually decreased, and the utilization efficiency gradually increased. High water and food intensity were concentrated in resource-intensive sectors such as the water production and supply industry and agriculture, while the energy intensity was higher in sectors such as mining, electricity, and gas production and supply. Various sectors absorbed a large amount of water-energy-food resources into the Guangdong economic system, mainly from the manufacturing industry. Urban consumption and out-of-province transfers were the main final consumption outlets for water-energy-food resources. The pressure on local resource use in Guangdong Province has improved significantly because of water-energy-food resource trade circulation. Energy trade has relieved 84. 33% of the pressure on local energy use, and food trade had relieved 40. 13% of the pressure on food use. The water pressure relief effect of food trade was five times that of energy trade.