Key leverage spots for water-energy-food nexus governance in China: Elasticity insights from a multi-regional input-output framework

China is actively exploring the transformation towards a resource-saving economic structure, but research on how to synergistically manage the three basic resources of water, energy and food (WEF) through structural adjustment remains lacking. Here, this study innovatively integrates the multi-regional input-output model with the Sherman-Morrison-Woodbury formula-based elasticity analysis. Based on this, by quantifying the effects of marginal adjustments in intermediate inputs, regional trade, and final demand structures, we identify resource synergistic governance leverage spots that consider economic impacts. The results show that there are 73 efficient synergistic governance spots for WEF at the national level, including 14 leverage spots with low economic impact and high resource governance. The agri-food system (i.e. agricultural products, food and tobacco sector) is the most important leverage spot for structural adjustment, followed by energy-intensive sectors such as construction and chemical products, especially in key provinces such as Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Shandong, Henan, and Xinjiang. To avoid obvious economic shocks, structural adjustment should prioritize sectoral intermediate inputs, cross regional trade, and final demand rather than regional self-supply. Furthermore, we identified 116 structural adjustments with low resource pressure and high economic promotion effects that cover 28 provinces and exhibit significant eastern spatial agglomeration. These spots mainly involve the final demand structure of high value-added products, especially household consumption and fixed capital formation of other services. Based on these findings, we can provide some forward-looking insights for balancing resource governance and economic development through structural adjustment.