Abstract: Strengthening the legislation of key, emerging and foreign-related sectors in the development of sports is a pivotal task in the rule of law in Chinese sports and an important guarantee for the construction of a leading sports nation. Using the methods of literature review and logical analysis, this paper discusses the strategic significance and fundamental principles of strengthening the legislation of key, emerging and foreign-related sectors in the development of sports, and the main contents regarding the legislation of key, emerging and foreign-related sectors in the development of sports. The study concludes that the legislation of key sectors in the development of sports should strengthen the legislation of national fitness protection, the supporting system of youth and school sports, competitive sports, sports industry promotion, professional sports, sports market supervision and regulation, and sports organization governance; the legislation of emerging sectors in the development of sports should highlight the legislation of digital sports, market competition, sports investment and financing, and fight against match manipulation; the legislation of foreign-related sports should focus on establishing a legal system to protect national interests in international sports activities, and establishing rule of law for various types of foreign-related sports affairs.

Key words: Leading Sports Nation, sports law, sports rule of law, legislation