A system for quantum state transfer and entanglement generation includes a quantum system including a plurality of qubits, a processor, and a memory. The memory includes instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by the processor, cause the quantum system to: access a signal of the quantum system; encode unknown coefficients in one qubit of the plurality of qubits; initialize each of the remaining qubits of the plurality of qubits in state |0; group the plurality of qubits into a plurality of subsystems; in each of the plurality of subsystems: encode quantum information into Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger-like (GHZ-like) states using nearest-neighbor interactions; and apply a generalized controlled-phase gate between the plurality of subsystems to merge the GHZ-like states into an entangled state between of the plurality of subsystems.