I am reasonbly comforable with the death penalty in theory but the question, of course, is how it is carried out. Confessions by torture, no right to a real defense, death penalty for things like drug muling and tax evasion are all very disturbing. Those issues, rather than the numbers themselves, are in my view the real cause for concern.
Not sure how strong Moving07's math is but my calc indicates that even with the number given, the per capita death penalty rate in China is about 6 times in the US. And that is using the "1000" proxy number - the actual number is certainly far higher (3,000 or so) since the 1,000 was being used as a placeholder. That of course is because the death penalty numbers are a 'state secret' - which to me is a massive example of a government's being unclear on the concept.
Anyway the process is more of a concern to me that the actual number.